The knowledge of some characteristic findings on the personality of patients with
analgesic-associated nephropathy (AAN) may facilitate diagnosis of the disease at an early stage. We therefore investigated the 144 patients at our
hemodialysis center and compared the AAN patients (33%) with those having other
kidney diseases (controls). Patients with AAN were older (60 +/- 10 vs 52 +/- 15 years, p less than 0.001) and predominantly women.
Acetaminophen and
metamizol metabolites were detected more frequently in blood from the AAN patients than in that from the controls (25% vs 3%, p = 0.002). More AAN patients were smokers, and they more frequently complained of vague symptoms (
pain, sensitivity to changes in weather,
insomnia) and also more frequently requested prescriptions for
analgesics,
hypnotics, laxatives, stomachics and
antipruritics. Because they were older, AAN patients had fewer occupational and financial problems. The compliance of the AAN patients was significantly better with respect to important dialysis parameters such as
weight gain between dialysis treatments (3.6 +/- 1.3 vs 4.0 +/- 1.3%
body weight, p less than 0.05) and diastolic blood pressure (81 +/- 12 vs 86 +/- 12 mmHg, p = 0.025). Despite an older age and higher morbidity, the cumulative 17-year survival rate of the AAN patients did not differ from that of the controls. We conclude that AAN patients have characteristic personality traits. Their better compliance, adjustment to the
hemodialysis situation and social conditions are responsible for their good survival on
hemodialysis.