Psychological problems as the major cause of fatigue in clients undergoing hemodialysis: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND: It is obvious that hemodialysis is a stressful process, leading to numerous social and psychological problems, and may cause fatigue and helplessness. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explain the experiences of hemodialysis clients regarding the effect of psychological problems on fatigue. METHODS: This article was extracted from a qualitative study conducted on clients undergoing hemodialysis in Khorramabad. To this end, a total of 15 participants were purposefully selected using the snowball sampling method and the required data was collected using individual, face to face, detailed and semi-structured interviews. There were 12 client interviewees and one doctor, one nurse and one hemodialysis client's spouse. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Continuous analysis of data and documents obtained from the interviews on the hemodialysis clients' experiences and comments regarding the main causes of fatigue revealed two main categories: 1) Psychological effects with subcategories of psychological stress and exhaustion; 2) Needs and constraints with subcategories of individual and social needs and constraints. CONCLUSION: According to the clients' speech and expression analysis, psychological impacts and disease-induced needs and constraints were the most important cause of fatigue and its continuation among these clients.