Relation between quality of life and spirituality in chronic renal patients who conduct hemodialysis

Abstract

Introduction: The hemodialysis is the treatment most used in patients with chronic kidney disease, and the same, limits the activities of patients, favoring sedentary lifestyle, functional disability, depression and anxiety, factors that reflect the quality of their life. Patients who have chronic diseases cling to faith as a way to find support and relief for their pain. Objective: This research has the objective to analyze the relationship between the scores of spirituality to quality of life of these patients. Methods: The study consisted of 100 patients of both sexes undergoing hemodialysis at Kidney Institute, Santa Casa de Misericordia de Presidente Prudente-SP. We used the SF-36 questionnaire to assess quality of life, The Spirituality Rating Scale and The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain. All statistical procedures were performed in BioEstat (5.0). Results: The score of spirituality was related to the great majority of the SF- 36. The higher scores of spirituality were related to higher scores in vitality, mental health and overall quality of life, even after adjusting for sex, age and VAS. It was possible to identify that the higher the “hope for the future” and “the belief that life has improved” was the best health perception. Conclusions: The Spirituality was shown to be positively related to improvement in quality of life and should be considered by the professionals who attend this kind of patient.