Recovery Time and Affecting Factors in Hemodialysis Patients

Do Biochemical Parameters and Intradialytic Symptoms Affect Post-dialysis Recovery Time?: A Cross-sectional Study

Patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) can experience symptoms such as lassitude, pain, muscle cramps, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, rash, skin dryness, sleep disorders, and emotional and sexual problems after the treatment. Many chronic HD patients do not feel well after the treatment sessions and need some time to recover. This recovery time is defined as the time required to recover from the feelings of lassitude and fatigue.

The recovery time not only decreases the quality of life but also increases the risk of mortality and morbidity. As a prolonged recovery time affects both the patients and the healthcare professionals and caregivers, there has been increased interest on determining the modifiable treatment-related factors in the international literature. The patients are limited in their daily living activities at home and at work during this period and a significant amount of time is therefore required to go back to normal life.

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18 years or older
• Being on HD for 4 hours a day on 3 days per week for at least 6 months
• No communication problem
• Volunteering to participate to the study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Younger than 18 years
• Shorter being on HD for 4 hours a day on 3 days per week for at least 6 months
• Have communication problem
• Not volunteering to participate to the study