Committee Chair

Metzger, Richard L.

Committee Member

Ozbek, Irene Nichols, 1947-; Warren Amye

Department

Dept. of Psychology

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

The increasing number of patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) has caused a substantial rise in the number of individuals receiving hemodialysis. One of the persistent questions with this group has been the influence of the procedure on quality of life. The present study explored the important factors that influence quality of life in hemodialysis patients. Participants were 160 (71 men and 89 women, mean age 62.84 years) community-dwelling, hemodialysis patients. Participants completed the Kidney Disease Quality of Life questionnaire and mental health and physical health composite scores were created in order to examine factors that can be considered predictive of quality of life in these patients. By using backward regression, the scales most predictive of mental and physical health were determined. For physical health, burden of kidney disease (p= .006), effects of kidney disease (p= .011), and sleep (p= .017) were the best-fitting set of predictors. For mental health, burden of kidney disease (p< .05), cognition (p< .05), and social support (p< .05) were the best-fitting set of predictors. Using these results from the regression analysis, a model for predicting physical health was explored, along with a model for predicting mental health. No other studies of this type have used predictive models; this is the first study of its kind.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

5-2010

Subject

Hemodialysis -- Patients -- Psychology

Discipline

Psychology

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

vi, 53 leaves

Language

English

Rights

https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

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Psychology Commons

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