Comfort and life quality in hemodialysis patients

This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the comfort and quality of life levels of patients with chronic renal failure who received hemodialysis treatment for at least six months. The research was carried out in the hemodialysis unit of a training and research hospital in Gaziantep. The population of the study consisted of 120 adult patients who received hemodialysis treatment in this hospital between August and October 2019. The entire universe was included in the sample and was completed with 120 (100%) patients who agreed to participate in the study. In order to conduct the research, necessary permissions from the institutions, ethics committee permission and patient consent were obtained. Personal Information Form, Hemodialysis Comfort Scale, SF-36 Quality of Life Scale, which was created by the researcher by scanning the literature, were used to collect the data. Frequency, descriptive statistics and t test, ANNOVA, Mann-Whitney U Test, Kruskal-Wallis H Test were used to evaluate the data. 50% of the patients participating in the study are women, 76.7% are married, 50% are in the 41-60 age group, and all of them undergo hemodialysis three days a week with AV fistula. In the study, the Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient of the Hemodialysis Comfort scale was found to be 0.898, and the sub-dimensions of the SF-36 Quality of Life Scale were found to be in the range of 0.705-0.988. The mean scores of the patients on the two sub-dimensions of the Hemodialysis Comfort Scale, namely overcoming and relaxation, were 2.37±0.72 and 2.83±0.96, respectively. There is a positive, weak/moderate and statistically significant relationship between the sub-dimensions and total score of the hemodialysis comfort scale and the SF-36 quality of life scale physical function, physical role, emotional role, energy, mental health, social functionality, pain, and general health scores. determined (p<0.05). As the Hemodialysis Comfort Scores of the patients increase, the SF-36 Quality of Life scores will also increase. Determining the comfort levels of patients during hemodialysis will guide nursing care and increase their quality of life. It can enable the determination of the factors affecting the comfort and quality of life of the patients and the development of solutions for the problems.