Psychosocial and quality of life issues in women with end-stage renal disease

There are differences in the way men and women experience end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Women are more likely to shoulder much of the burden of adapting family environments to accommodate life with ESRD. Issues such as fertility and conception are different from women in the general population. In the ESRD population, women express more depressive affect, anxiety, and personality disorder than men. Several psychosocial parameters have been found to be linked with differential survival between men and women such as social support and marital satisfaction. Women are more likely to serve as living donors for kidney transplantation yet less likely to be recipients of a cadaveric or living kidney transplant. We review the available literature on gender differences in ESRD with a focus on chronic hemodialysis. (C) 2007 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc.