The Effect of End-stage renal disease on Psychosocial Life, Coping Methods and Patients’ Organ Transplant Perception: A Qualitative Research

Abstract

Objective: End-stage renal disease is an important and common disease that negatively affects the biopsychosocial life of patients. In kidney transplantation, which is one of the most distinguished treatment methods of end-stage renal disease, life experiences, transplant expectations and views of patients prepared for transplantation are important in the success of the surgical intervention. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of end-stage renal disease on the lives of patients who are planned for transplantation, their methods of coping with the disease and thoughts on organ transplantation. Material and Method: The research was carried out by using descriptive phenomenological pattern which is one of the qualitative research types. The population of the study consisted of all patients who were hospitalized in the organ transplant service of a university hospital and planned to undergo a kidney transplant, and the sample was 15 patients who met the research criteria and were willing to participate. The data collected with the patient presentation form and semi-structured in-depth interview questions were evaluated by the thematic analysis method. Results: When the opinions of the patients about the effect of renal failure on psychosocial life and the methods of coping with the disease were examined, two main themes and 12 sub-themes were obtained. In the research, it was observed that end-stage renal disease causes various losses in the lives of the participants, they are desperate about the future and feel depressed, they experience obscurity, they see themselves different from the society and think they are stigmatized, their body image and self-esteem is disturbed by the disease and they distrust the healthcare professionals, they use emotion-oriented coping methods more often, although they experienced various fears related to organ transplantation, they described organ transplantation as quality living, freedom and hope. Conclusion: In this study, detailed data on psychosocial life experiences, coping methods and organ perception of patients preparing for transplantation were obtained. It is thought that these data will be an important guide in providing comprehensive and individualized nursing care to facilitate adaptation to life during long and indefinite waiting period for patients who are waiting for organ transplantation.