Pain and Coping Methods of Individuals under 65 Years of Age on Hemodialysis Treatment

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to determine the pain and coping methods of individuals under 65 years of age on hemodialysis treatment.

MATERIAL and METHODS: We included 83 individuals aged 18-65 years who agreed to participate in this descriptive study. Data were collected with the descriptive characteristics information form, created by scanning the literature, and the Visual Analog Scale. Descriptive statistics, t test, and oneway Anova were used for data analysis and p<0.05 was considered significant.

RESULTS: The mean age of the subjects was 46±12 years and the mean duration of hemodialysis was 6.1±3.4 years. The pain level was moderate (4.8±2.1) in 37.3%. The subjects often experienced leg pain (%38.7) and headaches (%22.6), mostly in the morning hours (%35.5), together with aching pain (61.3%). They coped with the pain with medication in 54.8% and rest in 22.6%. Age, sex, education, and duration of hemodialysis had no statistically significant relationship with the pain experienced (p>0.05).

CONCLUSION: Hemodialysis patients experienced moderate pain in various body regions and used ineffective coping strategies. We recommend evaluating the pain experience of these subjects and providing appropriate nursing interventions.