Self‐management experiences of haemodialysis patients with self‐regulatory fatigue: A phenomenological study

Abstract

AIM: To understand the real experiences of self-management in haemodialysis patients with self-regulatory fatigue, and to explore the influencing factors and coping strategies for patients with decreased self-management. DESIGN: A qualitative study was carried out using the phenomenological analysis method. METHODS: From 5 January to 25 February, 2022, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 haemodialysis patients in Lanzhou, China. Thematic analysis of the data was performed using the NVivo 12 software based on the 7 steps of Colaizzi's method. The study reporting followed the SRQR checklist. RESULTS: Five themes and 13 sub-themes were identified. The main themes were difficulties in fluid restrictions and emotional management, hard to adhere to long-term self-management, uncertainty about self-management, influencing factors are complex and diverse and coping strategies should be further improved. CONCLUSION: This study revealed the difficulties, uncertainty, influencing facts and coping strategies of self-management among haemodialysis patients with self-regulatory fatigue. A targeted program should be developed and implemented according to the characteristics of patients to reduce the level of self-regulatory fatigue and improve self-management. IMPACT: Self-regulatory fatigue has a significant impact on the self-management behaviour of haemodialysis patients. Understanding the real experiences of self-management in haemodialysis patients with self-regulatory fatigue enables medical staff to correctly identify the occurrence of self-regulatory fatigue in time and help patients adopt positive coping strategies to keep effective self-management behaviour. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Haemodialysis patients who met the inclusion criteria were recruited to participate in the study from a blood purification centre in Lanzhou, China.

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