A family systems approach to home dialysis

Patient's Self Assessment of Stressors and Adjustment to Home Hemodialysis and CAPD

We studied adaptability to the stresses of bome bemodialysis and CAPD programs by asking patients (143 on bemodialysis; 53 on CAPD) to assess particular treatment -associated stressors. A 14-item questionnaire was constructed to measure areas in which the patients felt stress and the intensity of the stress. Also we used a self-rating scale to obtain information about both the patient's overall and bis or ber physical wellbeing. The majority of patients complained of physical weakness and an inability to sleep. This paper outlines stressors for each treatment modality, and based on patient self-assessment concludes that the two modes of treatment are comparable.