Alarm over jobless rate for kidney patients

The unemployment rate among kidney disease patients who undergo dialysis but are able to work is 39 per cent - more than 10 times higher than city's overall 3.3 per cent, researchers find.

Doctors are now calling on employers to better understand the needs of these patients. The study also found that patients who approached employers at an early stage to make arrangements were more likely to continue working.

At the start of this month, 383 patients from Sha Tin's Prince of Wales Hospital were undergoing peritoneal dialysis at home. Some 128 were classed as part of the workforce - adults under 60 and excluding housewives.

Of these 128 patients, 39 per cent of them were able to work, but were unemployed; 33 per cent had a job; the rest had taken early retirement or ill-health prevented them from working.

Professor Philip Li Kam-tao, head of nephrology at Chinese University, said the 39 per cent unemployment rate was worrying. "This is not ideal. Working is important to help these patients' healthy."

About half of the patients receiving peritoneal dialysis said they did not need any special treatment at work. Peritoneal dialysis is carried out either three to four times a day for 30 to 45 minutes at a time, or in a single eight-hour treatment while they sleep.