RENAL DIALYSIS PATIENTS: COMPLIANCE, QUALITY OF LIFE, AND LOCUS OF CONTROL.

Abstract

Fifty eight patients with end-stage renal disease receiving outpatient chronic hemodialysis treatments in Southern Arizona were administered a battery of psychological tests. These tests included a global and factorial measurement of both quality of life and locus of control. Additionally, the Beck Depression Inventory was administered, and demographic and medical information was collected. The interrelationships between compliance to the dialysis treatment regimen and these other variables were examined through correlational and multiple regression analyses. It was hypothesized that a curvilinear relationship existed between compliance to the treatment regimen and each of the following variables: quality of life, locus of control, and feelings of depression. Additionally, scores from the present subject population were compared with published norms for some of the test instruments utilized in this study. No support was obtained for the proposed curvilinear hypotheses. In fact, there was no indication of a strong relationship in any direction between compliance, locus of control, quality of life, or demographic variables. This sample did not evidence the external locus of control or the high degree of depression often cited as a common finding with dialysis patients. While the rating of present life satisfaction was similar for both the dialysis and normative samples, the dialysis group, unlike the normative group, evidenced a progressive decline in reported life satisfaction from past to present to future. The demographic and medical data as well as the quality of life information collected provide both valuable descriptive information of this particular population and valuable normative data for outpatient dialysis patient populations.