Relationship Between Stressors and Coping Strategies in Iranian Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis

Background: Living with hemodialysis is a permanent challenge due to the need for adaptation to the treatment plan, related complications, and dietary constraints. Therefore, the quality of life in such patients is influenced by physical and psychological stressors posed by these challenges. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between stressors and coping strategies in hemodialysis patients, Qazvin, Iran. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional correlational design was used to investigate the relationship between physiological and psychosocial stressors and coping strategies among Iranian patients undergoing hemodialysis in 2018. Samples consisted of 140 patients recruited through the simple random sampling method from a large referral hemodialysis center affiliated to Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Iran. A demographic variables form, hemodialysis stressors scale (HSS,) and Ways of Coping Scale- revised (WOCS-R) were employed for data collection. SPSS version 24 was used for data analysis. Results: The majority of the patients (49.2%) had moderate and 3.6% of them had severe physiological stressors. With regard to psychosocial stressors, 51.4% had moderate and 3.6% of the participants had severe stressors. The majority of the participants used “distancing” strategies. Pearson’s correlation showed that strategies of escape avoidance and physiological stressors had a significant positive correlation (r = 0.2, P = 0.004), and strategies of problem solving (r = 0.2, P = 0.01), escape avoidance (r = 0.3, P = 0.000), and self-control (r = 0.1, P = 0.03) had a significant positive correlation with psychosocial stressors. Conclusions: The majority of the hemodialysis patients had moderate to severe stress in physiological and psychosocial dimensions. They often used negative strategies for coping with stressors. The above-mentioned challenges are considered as risks to patients’ well-being and require the attention of policy-makers and managers to provide comprehensive and high-quality services.