Do Symptoms Related to Hemodialysis Affect Marital Adjustment?

Abstract

All the symptoms experienced by patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) impair their social lives including family relationships and marital adjustment. The purpose of this descriptive study is to determine the effect of HD symptoms on marital adjustment. The study included 282 voluntary patients who were aged 18 or over and were receiving HD treatment for at least 6 months. The data were collected by using a Patient Information Form, Dialysis Symptom Index (DSI), and Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS) through face-to-face interviews. The results obtained in this study indicated that the most common symptoms experienced by patients were feeling tired or lack of energy. DSI scores of the patients were found to be negatively correlated with their RDAS scores at significant level (rho = -0.300, p < 0.05). The symptoms experienced by patients undergoing HD were also observed to have a negative effect on their marital adjustment.