Investigation of the attitudes of children undergoing dialysis towards their own illness using picture interpretation technique

This study is a Mixed Method study planned to investigate the attitudes of children aged 9-17 receiving dialysis treatment towards their own illness using the picture interpretation technique. The research was conducted with patients diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure who are receiving outpatient or day-patient treatment at Gaziantep University Şahinbey Research and Practice Hospital in Gaziantep province and who are receiving Peritoneal Dialysis or Hemodialysis treatment, via face-to-face interviews and picture drawing methods between 05.06.2024 and 05.12.2024, after obtaining the ethics committee and institutional permissions. The study addressed how children receiving dialysis treatment due to chronic renal failure perceive their illness and how this perception affects their psychosocial status. Within the scope of the study, children aged 9-17 were asked to draw pictures to express their feelings and thoughts about their illness. Then, the content of these pictures was analyzed. According to the quantitative data obtained from this study, it was determined that the average age of the children was 14.26, 57.88% of the participants were between the ages of 15-17 and 42.10% did not go to school, 73.70% had been on dialysis for 1-2 years and 68.42% received peritoneal dialysis, 63.46% of the participants had a negative attitude towards their own illness and the average mean of the Child's Own Attitude Towards The İllness Scale was 2.77, 63.46% were in the low percentiles and had growth retardation. As a result of the examination of the qualitative data in this study, the following themes were obtained; dialysis patients' lack of self-confidence, inadequacy in socialization skills and self-expression, behavioral disorders, disconnection in family relationships, anxiety about the future, fatigue, disorder in sexual identity development, dependency on parents or caregivers, inability to accept the disease, parental indifference or parental overprotection. The findings obtained revealed that children receiving dialysis treatment generally develop negative attitudes towards their diseases and that this situation negatively affects their daily lives. In conclusion, this study revealed that the negative attitudes of children receiving dialysis treatment between the ages of 9-17 towards their own diseases affect their psychosocial well-being. The importance of children and their families receiving psychosocial support during the disease process was emphasized and recommendations were made to health professionals in this regard.