[Oral history of life: in search of the meaning of hemodialysis in chronic renal patients]

Anxiety-depression levels and coping strategies among renal transplant waitlisted and non-waitlisted hemodialysis patients

Background/Aim: Although hemodialysis provides prolonged survival, patients face major challenges, including conflicts about life decisions, limited physical, mental, and lifestyle activities, psychological distress, high prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms, and compromised health-related quality of life. This study aimed to compare anxiety-depression levels and coping strategies between renal transplant waitlisted and non-waitlisted hemodialysis patients. Methods: A total of 75 hemodialysis patients were enrolled in this case-control analytical study, including renal transplant waitlisted (n = 35) and non-waitlisted (n = 40) patients. Patients were asked to fill out a questionnaire including socio-demographic characteristics, duration of hemodialysis, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Ways of Coping Questionnaire. Comparative analyses were performed via Student's t-test and Pearson Correlation test. Results: The mean age was 57.1 (15.3) years; 56% were males, and being under hemodialysis treatment was 7.3 (5.9) years. Waitlisted and non-waitlisted patients were matched. Overall, 28 patients (37.3%) had anxiety, and 34 patients (45.3%) had depression. There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding depression scores. Anxiety was more common among non-waitlisted than waitlisted patients (P = 0.043). The fatalistic approach was the most common coping strategy applied, and there was a significant negative correlation between anxiety scores and the problem-solving approach (P = 0.034) and a significant positive correlation between depression scores and the helplessness approach (r = 0.234, P = 0.043). Conclusion: Both waitlisted and non-waitlisted hemodialysis patients have significantly higher levels of depression, with anxiety being higher in non-waitlisted patients. Since coping strategies differed concerning anxiety and depression but not transplant candidacy, psychiatric evaluation and counseling would be essential in hemodialysis patients to control the stressors.

Coping Strategies Adopted by Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease in Preparation for Transplant

Aim

This paper aimed to analyze the coping strategies adopted by patients in preparation to kidney transplant, as well as associations between coping and socio-demographic data.

Method

A total of 76 patients took part in this descriptive, exploratory study. While waiting for the first medical consultation regarding kidney transplantation, participants answered the Brazilian version of the Ways of Coping Scale.

Results

The main coping strategies adopted corresponded first to religiosity, then problem focused coping and seeking for social support. There were statistically significant associations between coping categories and gender, marital status, monthly income, children’s ages, and time in dialysis.

Conclusion

This study highlights the main coping strategies adopted by patients in preparation to kidney transplant, and it also reveals associations between some socio-demographic data and coping. These results may promote further psychosocial interventions, which may help to improve preparation to kidney transplants, promoting better adaptation and treatment adherence as well as fewer psychological burdens.

[The evaluation of the level of hope of elderly chronic kidney disease patients undergoing hemodialysis]

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the level of hope of elderly chronic kidney disease patients undergoing hemodialysis, using the Herth Hope Scale (HHS). This cross-sectional descriptive study was performed at a Renal Replacement Therapy Unit located in upstate São Paulo. The sample consisted of 50 elderly patients currently undergoing hemodialysis treatment. After obtaining the participants' consent to participate, individual interviews were performed with the elderly individuals, utilizing a characterization instrument and the Herth Hope Scale. All of the ethical premises were complied with (protocol 512/2009). Regarding the results, most participants were male (60%) and their mean age was 70.20 (±6.1) years. The mean score on the Herth Hope Scale was 36.20 (±2.90). In conclusion, compared with the Brazilian study regarding the validation of the Herth Hope Scale, the subjects' level of hope was lower, thus indicating a need to intervene regarding this feeling.

[An association between forms of coping and the socio-demographic variables of people on chronic hemodialysis]

This sectional study was performed with the objective to verify the association between the forms of coping used by people on chronic hemodialysis and their socio-demographic variables. A semi-structured instrument and the Folkman and Lazarus' Coping Strategies Inventory were used. The sample consisted of 107 adults, mostly male (62.4%), on ambulatory hemodialysis for over six months. The most commonly referred forms of coping were related to the positive reevaluation factor (coping centered on emotions); with the highest mean scores among women for all factors and for people who reported having a partner, living with their families and receiving support in their treatment, and the highest scores were common for the factors control, self-control, and social support. Knowing the forms of coping prepares nurses to reinforce or seek, with patients on hemodialysis, choosing positive forms of coping and propose actions that permit patients to develop adaptive mechanisms.

[Selfcare of diabetic nephropathy]

One aimed to describe the selfcare of diabetic nephropathy. Descriptive study assisted in july-august/2004 a Reference Unit for diabetes mellitus in Fortaleza, CE, Brazil. It is a, performed at the referral Secundary diabetes mellitus in Fortaleza-CE with 30 patients, across the medical files, semistructured interview and observation no participant. Predominance the female gender; 51 to 60 age; low education, monthly income of a minimum wage, nephropathy diabetes bearers type 2 associate the arterial hypertension. As to the orientations about selfcare, they are carried out by nurses and doctors. The diet and the psychological factor represented bearers the biggest obstacles to the treatment and the financial factor the main and limiting cause to its execution. We concluded that it is necessary a more intense education, contextualized with the reality in order to contribute to the diabetic nephropathy bearer's self sufficiency and quality of life enhancement.

Hemodiálise: seu significado e impacto para a vida do idoso

O processo de envelhecimento que antes era restrito aos países desenvolvidos está ocorrendo nos países em desenvolvimento e de modo mais rápido. O surgimento de doenças não transmissíveis pode induzir alterações funcionais com maior intensidade, como a doença renal crônica. O objetivo deste trabalho é compreender o significado da hemodiálise para o idoso renal-crônico e o impacto dessa modalidade terapêutica em sua vida. Tratou-se de um estudo exploratório, de abordagem qualitativa, com entrevista com 22 idosos em tratamento dialítico. Foi utilizado como instrumento um roteiro, contendo perguntas abertas. A análise dos dados foi por meio da análise temática de Bardin. Como resultado, obtemos duas categorias: o significado de ser idoso em tratamento hemodialítico; e o impacto da hemodiálise na vida dos idosos. A pesquisa revelou que a hemodiálise afeta o cotidiano dos idosos, pois causa limitações sociais, envolvendo seu trabalho, hábitos alimentares, culturais, além do impacto na saúde mental.

[Nurses with chronic illness: relations with the illness, prevention and the work process]

Nurses work within the interface of the population's process of falling ill and of occupational diseases. In this setting, chronic diseases are evidenced, and they affect the work process. The purpose of this study was to identify, in nurses, the measures used to prevent health problems in the presence of a chronic disease, analyze the relation between their knowledge and attitudes toward chronic diseases, and the relation of risk factors with their work process. This is a quantitative and descriptive study, involving 23 nurses with chronic diseases, representing 76.6% of the 30 nurses diagnosed with a chronic illness at a Federal Hospital, 22 of whom are women. It was observed that the nurses comply with the treatment proposed for their disease and have effective strategies to cope with the fact of falling ill, changing their lifestyles. Furthermore, they reported there were factors in their work environment that contribute to worsen their illness.

Hemodiálise: estilo de vida e a adaptação do paciente

OBJETIVO: Identificar como o paciente dependente de hemodiálise enfrenta no dia-a-dia o processo saúde-doença, considerando atitudes, comportamentos e práticas. MÉTODOS: Estudo de abordagem qualitativa baseado nos princípios da Teoria Fundamentada nos Dados e realizado na Associação de Doentes Renais e Transplantados do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Participaram do estudo dez sujeitos dependentes de hemodiálise. RESULTADOS: A análise apontou para a adaptação, a negação, o ajuste social e a luta contra maus sentimentos que desvelaram a categoria (Re)Construindo um novo estilo de vida: a adaptação. CONCLUSÃO: As ações do enfermeiro devem seguir para além das necessidades físicas e biológicas atingindo os campos social e psicológico, onde estratégias para a melhoria da qualidade de vida destes indivíduos devem ser consideradas, orientadas e estimuladas.

"Faz isso, faz aquilo, mas eu tô caindo...": compreendendo a Doença de Chron

Buscando compreender o significado e o impacto da doença de Chron na vida de seu portador, desenvolvemos este estudo, de natureza qualitativa, optando pela História Oral de Vida como referencial metodológico, tendo como base filosófica a corrente monista, advinda de Hipócrates, em que a prática médica tem por objeto a pessoa doente em sua totalidade, levando em conta seu temperamento e a sua história. A terapêutica deve restabelecer a harmonia da pessoa com seu ambiente e consigo mesma , trata-se de uma medicina integradora e dinâmica, que corresponde aos primórdios da medicina psicossomática. O estudo da doença de Chron, por meio da compreensão psicossomática, permitiu que analisássemos os sintomas, não como corpos estranhos a serem erradicados, mas como mensageiros de um apelo a ser compreendido. Por intermédio deles, pode ser resgatada a história de um indivíduo que, se conscientemente vivida e analisada, permite o desenvolvimento até níveis mais evoluídos de entendimento.