STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

Assess the quality of life (QOL) of patients undergoing haemodialysis in Vinayaka Mission Hospital, Salem, Tamilnadu.

NEED FOR THE STUDY:

Chronic renal failure is a debilitating condition responsible for high morbidity and mortality and is a financial burden on government and society. Because of its cost and the complexity of its treatment, proper care is available to very few patients in India (Sanjaykumar. A et.al. 2005)

Worldwide prevalence of chronic renal failure is high, it is a major public health problem, and the global incidence of chronic renal failure is 1.8 million/ year (WHO, 2000). Incidence of chronic renal failure is increasing 8% every year and 89% of patients are on haemodialysis and 11% on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (kidney consultants international, 2007) It is presumed that incidence of ESRD in India is 1, 00,000 or 100/pmp/year (Extrapolation from western data, 2000) The alarming increase of new ESRD patients has resulted in an incremental expansion of resources, health facilities and consequently expenses (Austin G.S et.al., 2004)

Haemodialysis is the most successful and most commonly used form of organ replacement therapy. It is a process by which blood is removed from the body and circulated through an “artificial kidney” for wastes. The dialyzed blood is then return to the patient. (Linton, 2008)

Complication of haemodialysis includes atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, anemia, gastric ulcer, disturbed calcium metabolism and hepatitis. The leading causes of death for haemodialysis patients are cerebrovascular accident, and myocardial infarction, followed by infection (Linton, 2008)

QOL is individuals’ perceptions if their position in life in the context of their position in life in the context of the culture and value system in which they live and in relation to their goals ,standards and concerns (WHO,1993)

The concept of quality of life is increasing in importance and growing as a valid indicator of whether a given medical treatment is beneficial. Quality of life now represents a way to describe the overall results of diagnostic and treatment efforts that makes sense to individual with chronic illness and health care professions .(Mac Hill et.al., 2002)

OBJECTIVES:

· To assess the QOL of haemodialysis patients

· To compare the QOL scores of patients with their demographic variables

· To associate the QOL scores of patients with their demographic variables

HYPOTHESIS:

· Ho1: There is no significant association between demographic variables and quality of life of heamodialysis patients.

Research design and approach-

An exploratory design with cross sectional survey approach was used to assess the quality of life of patients undergoing haemodialysis

Setting of the study-

The study was conducted in Vinayaka Mission Hospital, Salem which is 10km away from Salem city and very nearer to the Vinayaka Mission Annapoorana College of nursing.

Population-

Population consists of all patients attending dialysis unit, Vinayaka mission hospital, Salem.

Sampling technique-

Non probability purposive sampling.

Sample size-

63 patients attending dialysis unit during the data collection period.

Instruments used for the study were Semi structured interview schedule and rating scale.

Period of data collection

The data collection was done for the period of 6 months.

Procedure

The data collection procedure was done before the dialysis procedure. The patient was made to sit in a comfortable position in calm and quiet area. The quality of life domains were discussed with them, interview and rating was done for 30 minutes. The patients’ responses were recorded.

Data Analysis

Area wise percentage distribution of quality of life of patients undergoing haemodialysis

Areas of Quality of life	Very good	Good	Average	Poor	Very poor
Physical wellbeing	2	24	52	22	_
Mental wellbeing	2	12	70	16	_
Social wellbeing	4	21	51	24	_
Spiritual wellbeing	19	33	18	18	12

Major findings revealed that 48% of patients were in the age group of above 50yrs, 62% were males and 33% had primary school education, higher percentage (37%) of patients were daily wagers, 35% of patients were from the income group of Rs500- 999/, 59% of patients were from rural area, highest percentages (76%) of patients were married, 59% of patients were from nuclear family, higher and similar percentage (30%, 30%) of them were suffering from renal failure for <6 months and 6 months to 1 year respectively.

Most of the patients had average QOL in all the areas except spiritual wellbeing. More or less similar percentage (83%, 86%) had average QOL in the age group of 41-50 years and above 50 years, majority 84% of females and 77% of males had average QOL and 87%of daily wagers had average QOL, most of the patients had average QOL irrespective of their monthly income. Further, 15% of patients living in urban area had poor QOL and 23% of patients from joint family had good QOL as well as 25% of patients who had renal failure for greater than 2 years had good QOL. There is no significant association between demographic variables except age and residence

RECOMMENDATIONS:

On the basis of the findings of the study, it is recommended that:

· A similar study can be conducted on larger samples.

· A study may be undertaken to assess the effectiveness of structured teaching programmme regarding quality of life of hemodialysis patients by assessing their quality of life before and after teaching.

· Quality of life of hemodialysis patients can also be conducted to find out quality of life in general.

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Received on 17.02.2015 Modified on 02.03.2015

Int. J. Adv. Nur. Management 3(3): July- Sept. 2015; Page 197-199

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2652.2015.00002.5