High-tone external muscle stimulation in endstage renal disease: effects on quality of life in patients with peripheral neuropathy.

Objective: High-tone exter- nal muscle stimulation (HTEMS) has been shown to ameliorate painful peripheral neu- ropathy of dialysis patients. We hypothesized that HTEMS could also lead to improved parameters of health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Methods: 25 end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients (17 men/8 women, mean age 62.2 ± 14.2 years) were enrolled for the study. For evaluation of HRQOL the short form SF-36 was used. In addition, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the pain severity score were investigated. HTEMS was applied intradia- lytically for 1 hour, 3 times a week. Its effect was evaluated just before the beginning and both 6 and 12 weeks after onset of this study. Results: SF-36 showed a significant effect of time for the subscales of physical role func- tioning and social functioning. A marginal significant positive trend could be observed for physical functioning. The pain symptom questionnaire sum scores improved signifi- cantly after 12 weeks. The HADS did not change significantly. Conclusion: The data indicate that intradialytic HTEMS treatment of ESRD patients with peripheral neuropathy ameliorates various components of physical health.