Perceived health status and adherence to haemodialysis by End Stage Renal Disease patients: A case of a Central hospital in Zimbabwe.

Abstract

Poor adherence to haemodialysis among End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients has been a major problem globally. Perceived physical health appears to be the major contributing factor to poor adherence to haemodialysis. Improving the adherence to haemodialysis among ESRD patients improves their quality of life. A descriptive correlational study was conducted to examine the relationship between perceived physical health and level of adherence to haemodialysis among ESRD patients. The study was conducted at a central hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe. A total of 85 ESRD patients who met the inclusion criteria were selected using simple random sampling. Data was collected using an interview schedule with three sections namely: the demographic data, adherence to haemodialysis and perceived physical health. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient and linear regression were used to analyse the data. Eighty - three (97.6%) demonstrated low adherence to haemodialysis. Eighty - two (96.5%) perceived their physical health to be average. The Pearson correlation coefficient (r=-.44 p<.01) showed a weak negative significant relationship. Perceived physical health had an impact of 19.7% on adherence to haemodialysis (R 2 0.197). The findings predict that as perceived