| Popis: |
A questionnaire enquiry was undertaken to assess aspects of quality of life of 100 older patients (60 women, 40 men; mean age 73.2 [65-88] years) who underwent haemodialysis for an average of 35.6 +/- 28.3 months. The majority of patients (85%) showed a positive attitude towards the haemodialysis treatment, but 14 signified that they would not again submit to this form of treatment. The replies of these patients in other ways, too, corresponded to a depressive state (P less than 0.001) with problems of coping with therapeutic measures (P less than 0.005). Reasons for this were, first, severe physical impairment by additional disease and, secondly, psychosocial factors. Nine of the 14 patients were women living alone who showed signs of loneliness. It would seem that a "negative" attitude towards haemodialysis is largely determined by a patient's social environment. |
