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Psychosocial characteristics of CAPD patients and the occurrence of infectious complications
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to ascertain if a relationship exists between the psychosocial characteristics of the CAPD patient and the occurrence of infectious complications exhibited by the patient.
Design:
Descriptive.
Sample/Setting:
Sixty-five (65) patients from 3 dialysis units in the south-eastern United States. The subjects at the time of the study were (a) using CAPD and performing their exchanges using a spike decontamination system, or (b) were previously treated by CAPD using a spike decontamination system.
Methods:
Patients completed the Exercise of Self-Care Agency scale (ESCA) and three subscales of the Adjective Check List (ACL). The relationship of the patient's occurrences of infectious complication and the scores on these instruments was evaluated using multiple regression techniques and Cox Hazard Ratio.
Results:
Of the characteristics studied, only autonomy was found to be significantly related to the incidence of peritonitis, time to the first episode of peritonitis, and the total incidence of infectious complications. None of the psychosocial characteristics studied were significantly related to the occurrence of exit site infections.
Conclusions:
The patient's autonomy and factors other than the psychosocial characteristics presented in this study contribute to the occurrence of infectious complications in CAPD patients. Attitudes about ESRD and CAPD expressed by the patients permitted them to be categorized into three groups, which had vastly different degrees of success with CAPD; these categorizations may serve as the basis for further study.