COPING STRATEGIES OF CHRONIC HEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS

THE AIM of the investigation was to study coping strategies characteristic of hemodialysis (HD) patients, their specific features as compared to the strategies used by healthy subjects and the variables associated with coping preferences of these patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS. The investigation included 85 patients treated by chronic HD. Coping strategies were estimated with the help of the questionnaire «The ways of Coping Questionnaire». In all the patients the indices of quality of life, levels of depression and anxiety, type of attitude to illness, clinical indices were determined in order to establish the variables associated with coping preferences of the patients. RESUILTS. In HD patients there are such prevailing coping strategies as «selfcontrol» and «planning of solving problems». They rarely have such a passive and nonconstructive method of overcoming problems as «escapeavoidance». Unlike the healthy, HD patients very rarely use «confrontation», «escape», «positive overestimation of the situation» as a means of coping difficult situations and more often «self control» and «distance». The data obtained show sufficiently successful mental adaptation of patients to chronic disease and HD treatment. The indices of coping strategies were found to be associated with the parameters of quality of life, types of attitude to illness, gender, age, duration of kidney disease and HD treatment, dynamics of change to HD. CONCLUSION. The prevailing strategies of coping problems in HD patients are «selfcontrol», «planning of solving problems», they rarely have a passive and nonconstructive means of stress overcoming behavior «escapeavoidance» that suggests good adaptation potentialities of such patients.

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