This page is alzhub.org's plain-English summary of a published study, not the paper itself. It is generated from the record we hold for this study, sourced and linked below — check the original for the full text and methods.

46/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 46 out of 100. Caregiving

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Plain-language summary

The high burden of cognitive impairment in hemodialysis and chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients has only recently become recognized. Up to 70% of hemodialysis patients aged 55 years and older have moderate to severe chronic cognitive impairment, yet it is largely undiagnosed. Recent studies describe the strong graded relation between estimated glomerular filtration rate and cognitive function in CKD patients. The process of conventional hemodialysis may induce recurrent episodes of acute cerebral ischemia, which, in turn, may contribute to acute decline in cognitive function during dialysis. Thus, the worst time to communicate with dialysis patients may be during the hemodialysis session. Both symptomatic and occult, subclinical ischemic cerebrovascular disease appears to play a large role in a proposed model of accelerated vascular cognitive impairment in these populations. Severe cognitive impairment or dementia among hemodialysis patients is associated with an approximately 2-fold increased risk of both mortality and dialysis withdrawal. Predialysis cognitive screening and adding dementia to the list of comorbidities on Form 2728 would provide critical information regarding the benefit versus risks of receiving dialysis. It could also improve quality of care and outcomes by raising clinicians' awareness of the potential effects of cognitive impairment on medication, fluid, and dietary compliance and the ability to make advance directive decisions among dialysis patients. Although much remains to be learned regarding the pathophysiology of cognitive impairment in kidney disease, the public health implications of this substantial burden are immediate.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Murray, A. M. (2008). Cognitive impairment in the aging dialysis and chronic kidney disease populations: an occult burden. Advances in chronic kidney disease. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.ackd.2008.01.010

Vancouver

Murray AM. Cognitive impairment in the aging dialysis and chronic kidney disease populations: an occult burden. Advances in chronic kidney disease. 2008. doi:10.1053/j.ackd.2008.01.010. PMID: 18334236.

BibTeX

@article{murray2008-18334236,
  author  = {Murray, A. M.},
  title   = {{Cognitive impairment in the aging dialysis and chronic kidney disease populations: an occult burden}},
  journal = {Advances in chronic kidney disease},
  year    = {2008},
  doi     = {10.1053/j.ackd.2008.01.010},
  pmid    = {18334236},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1053/j.ackd.2008.01.010}
}

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

How to read this study

Design: this is a narrative review. It summarises a field without a fixed search method, so it shows how authors read the evidence rather than measuring it. Use it to find the primary studies, not as a result in itself.
Size: the record gives no participant count. Look for one in the original before trusting a pattern.
Effect: the record gives no effect size, so the summary above cannot say how large any difference was.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded low. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. Low means the abstract matched neither pattern. It is the default label, and it does not mean the work is poor; many sound lab and imaging papers land here. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

New to reading papers? Six questions to ask of any Alzheimer’s study · how we score.

Key findings

Severe cognitive impairment or dementia among hemodialysis patients is associated with an approximately 2-fold increased risk of both mortality and dialysis withdrawal.
Predialysis cognitive screening and adding dementia to the list of comorbidities on Form 2728 would provide critical information regarding the benefit versus risks of receiving dialysis.

Why it matters

Severe cognitive impairment or dementia in hemodialysis patients is linked to about a twofold increased risk of both mortality and dialysis withdrawal. Predialysis cognitive screening could give critical information about the benefits versus risks of receiving dialysis.

New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Caregiving →

Study details

Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 46/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Advances in chronic kidney disease)
Journal's citation record	1 / 4	Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease: journal h-index 97 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	0 / 12	No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Strength of evidence	1 / 5	Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	1 / 5	2008 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	0 / 4	Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	0 / 3	Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	6 / 7	Cited 417 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	4 / 5	20.9 citations a year over 20 year(s) since 2008
Impact for its field and year	4 / 6	Cited 13.7× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	1 / 6	Cited by 1 other studies in this library
Still being cited	3 / 4	Cited 59 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	3 / 4	Last-listed author Anne M. Murray: h-index 60 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	2 / 3	University of Minnesota: institution h-index 1,568 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	1 / 3	OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 18334236)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	46 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

Read the original

Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).

Studies in the library that share something with this one. The line above each title says what.

Studies this one cites

Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.

Later studies that cite this one

1 study in the alzhub library lists this one in its references.

Related studies in Caregiving from nearby years

Also tagged “controlled”

1,116 studies in the library carry the topic tag “controlled”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 1,116 tagged studies.

Studies sharing this one's topic tags

Similar studies

More on Caregiving

See all studies in Caregiving →