MEASURING DISEASE SEVERITY IN PATIENTS WITH END-STAGE RENAL-DISEASE -VALIDITY OF THE CRAVEN ET-AL ESRD SEVERITY INDEX

The validity of a recently developed measure of disease severity, the End-stage Renal Disease Severity Index (Craven et al. 1991) was examin ed in haemodialysis (HD) and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients (total N = 82). Scores on the ESRD Severity Index wer e compared with three commonly identified components of disease severi ty: physiological indices of severity, functional status, and psycholo gical burden of illness. For the entire group of subjects, scores on t he ESRD Severity Index were negatively associated with functional abil ity and positively related to physiological severity. ESRD Severity In dex scores showed a weaker relationship with psychological burden of i llness which depended in part on treatment mode. Disease severity scor es were positively related to depression in CAPD patients but not in H D patients. These findings suggest that the ESRD Severity Index is a v aluable research tool with construct validity.