Hemodialysis patients' psychosocial characteristics and quality of life indicators

• Main Author: Riopelle, Donna Michele.
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: McGill University 2005
• Subjects: Hemodialysis > Patients.; Quality of life.
• Online Access: http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=99169

This research examines Hemodialysis patients' psycho-social characteristics and predictors of quality of life and compliance at a small rural hospital. Sixty-four patients from the hemodialysis unit at Renfrew Victoria Hospital in Renfrew, Ontario, and a satellite unit at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in Barry's Bay, Ontario, were assessed using the Social Work Patient Profile, Perceived Quality of Life and Compliance Indices. Bivariate correlation and multiple regressions were conducted on psychosocial, physical and mental health variables to determine if they correlated, and could be predictors of, social worker and nurses' perceptions of patients' quality of life and compliance. === Findings support multiple correlations between variables. Younger age, recreation, family support, self driving to dialysis, dementia, diabetes as the cause of chronic kidney failure (CKF), and other as the cause of CKF were significant individual predictors of social work quality of life score. Significant individual predictors for the nurses' quality of life scores were dementia, glomeruloneph, compliance, level of education, and polycystic kidney disease as the cause of CKF. The statistically significant risk factors for nurses' quality of life were lower levels of education and dementia. The four psychosocial variables that predicted compliance to treatment, suggested that there was increased compliance for patients who had recreation and family support, and increased risk factors with age and lower levels of education.