Original Research Article
Year: 2017 | Month: April | Volume: 7 | Issue: 4 | Pages: 332-339
Quality of Life: Perspectives of Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis
Paraskevi Partsiopoulou1, Maria Papaspurou2, Aspasia Giannou1, Maria Spyropoulou3, Vasiliki C. Laschou4, Areti Tsaloglidou55, Evangelos C. Fradelos6, Konstantinos Tsaras7, Ioanna V. Papathanasiou7
1General Hospital of Naousa, Greece
2General Hospital of Trikala, Greece
3General Hospital of Karditsa, Greece
4Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Thessaly, Greece
5Nursing Department, Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, Greece
6State Mental Hospital of Attica “Daphne”, Greece
7Nursing Department, Technological Educational Institute of Thessaly, Greece
Corresponding Author: Ioanna V. Papathanasiou
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a very a serious public health issue worldwide and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality rates. Quality of life of patients with end-stage renal disease is impaired due to residual renal function, but also due to its therapeutic treatment (hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis).
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the views of patients undergoing hemodialysis on the general concept of quality of life, the factors that affect the quality of an individual’s life and the dimensions that the patients themselves believe they have an impact on their quality of life. The self-reported quality of life and a number of psychological dimensions are also explored.
Materials and Methods: In this qualitative study, which was held in April 2016, the views and beliefs of 12 patients about the quality of life were recorded and analyzed.
Results: The sample consisted of six men and six women, ranging from 30 to 79 years old and the duration of dialysis program was among 0.5 to 15 years. The most important factors that affect the quality of individuals’ life, according to the views of dialysis patients, are health and psychology. This view was supported by nine out of twelve patients. Furthermore, eleven out of twelve patients believe that the primary factor affecting them is their nephropathy, with the concept of a serious chronic disease. The sociability, the dependence on health staff, as well as the dietary restrictions and issues regarding their occupation are other important factors affecting them. Anxiety and impaired psychology are also present, especially between patients who have recently joined into a dialysis program.
Conclusions: The patients mentioned a more limited quality of life, showing a greater dissatisfaction to different aspects of their disease and their impact on their everyday lives. Specifically, they expressed increasing dissatisfaction about the time spent for the treatment of their disease, the dependence on the hemodialysis staff, the reduced ability to travel and their inability to work. Psychological burden was also found.
Key words: Hemodialysis, chronic renal failure, quality of life