Stigma and related factors among renal dialysis patients in China

Stigma is an important psychological concept that is being studied in many diseases. However, there have been few studies on stigma in renal dialysis patients in China. This study aimed to investigate the level of stigma and its potential influencing factors among Chinese renal dialysis patients.

A cross-sectional study was conducted among renal dialysis patients in two Chinese dialysis centers between April 2022 and July 2022. Two hundred four renal kidney patients were interviewed with a questionnaire on demographic variables using the Social Impact Scale (SIS), Resilience Scale-14 (RS-14), Herth Hope Index(HHI), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Revised Life Orientation Test(LOT-R), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4) and Fear of Progression (FoP). T-test/univariate one-way ANOVA, Pearson's R, and hierarchical linear regression analysis were used to investigate the factors that influence stigma.

Renal dialysis patients in China experienced a moderate level of stigma (52.36 ± 8.16). Stigma was negatively correlated with resilience, hope, and perceived social support, whereas it was positively associated with perceived stress and fear of progression. However, it showed no significant relationship between optimism and stigma. Hierarchical linear regression analysis showed that hope (β = -0.318, P < 0.001), social support (β = -0.193, P < 0.01), perceived stress (β = 0.197, P < 0.01), and fear of progression (β = 199, P < 0.01) were found to be associated with stigma among the renal dialysis patients. All four variables in the model could explain 34.6% of the variance in stigma among renal dialysis patients in China.

According to this study, renal dialysis patients in China face a moderate level of stigma. Stigma was found to be negatively related to hope and social support but positively associated with perceived stress and fear of progression. Future research on the stigma of renal dialysis patients should include hope-based interventions, proper and specific social support strategies, stress management interventions, and more disease-related information.