The Effect of Self-Care on the Self-Esteem of Hemodialysis Patients

Patients with end-stage renal disease experience considerable duress and assaults on their self-esteem. The absence of normal kidney function; the need for psycological adaptation to chronic illness; and forced changes in roles and lifestyle often result in a major disruption of self wholeness, independence and the individual\u27s self-perception. Research has suggested that there are definite stressors to a person\u27s self-esteem when faced with chronic hemodialysis. The presence of these stressors force the hemodialysis patient to institute various strategies to deal with them. This study was conducted to determine whether performing self-care hemodialysis enhanced self-esteem in the patient. Thirty-six subjects were studied to test the research hypotheses that patients who participate in the performance of their own dialysis treatment will have a significantly higher self-esteem than those who are on staff-performed hemodialysis, as evidenced by results on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the modified Coopersmith Self -Esteem Inventory. Considerations were given to such variables as sex , age, education, length of time on dialysis and occupation. A comparison was also done on in-center self-dialysis patients and the home patients. Insignificant f ratios were calculated for self-esteem based on results from Rosenberg \u27s Self-Esteem Scale and the modified Coopersmith Self -Esteem Inventory. From the results of this study, it was concluded that people who undergo self-dialysis will not have any significant differences in self-esteem than those who do not. Auxiliary findings comparing the in-center self-dialysis patients and home dialysis patients revealed there is no significant differences in the self-esteem in these 2 subgroups of subjects. These results may be attributed to the massive use of denial by these patients, limitations of the study and uncontrolled variables. Recommendations included doing a similar study using a true experimental design, using subjects with other diagnosis, and controlling for such variables as motivation, locus of control, available support systems, and so on