Different Aspects of Fatigue Experienced by Patients Receiving Maintenance Dialysis in Hemodialysis Units

BACKGROUND: Fatigue, a common symptom reported by patients receiving dialysis, is a multidimensional and subjective experience which is readily understood by individuals but difficult to measure. OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to identify the prevalence of differential aspects of fatigue among patients receiving maintenance dialysis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted in two hemodialysis wards in Tehran with a sample of 163 participants. In this study, the multidimensional fatigue inventory was used to determine the level of fatigue. Demographic data were also collected with self-report survey. To analyze data with SPSS statistical software, test Chi square, T-test, and ANOVA were used. P- Value less than 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: All the patients experienced degrees of fatigue and 50 (30.7%) of the participants experienced a high level of fatigue. Fatigue scores arrangement was founded for physical fatigue followed by reduced activity and general fatigue. Lower levels of fatigue were reported for mental fatigue and reduced motivation. There was no diversity in this study in the levels of fatigue in respects of gender and marital status and employment status. Participants with diabetic nephropathy were the most fatigued. CONCLUSIONS: People with chronic kidney disease regardless of their age, gender, state of health, and duration of hemodialysis experience high levels of fatigue; it is particularly important for health providers to understand this level of fatigue which affects the daily life of patients.