Teaching program effects on high phosphorus levels in patients receiving hemodialysis

The objective was to determine the effect of a patient education intervention on decreasing serum phosphorus levels, increasing calcium levels, and increasing knowledge in hemodialysis patients with abnormally high phosphorus levels (n = 29).

Study subjects were (a) on hemodialysis at least 3 months, (b) English speaking, (c) mentally alert, (d) not under constant nursing care, and (e) hyperphosphatemic. The study was conducted at two suburban dialysis units in the Chicago Metropolitan area.

This study had a one group, pretest-posttest design, using subjects as their own controls.

The intervention was a one-on-one education session performed by a nephrology nurse using a teaching booklet, an Osteodystrophy Tool, and a medication diary.

The mean change score for phosphorus did not reach significance (t [28] = .68, p = .50). The change in mean phosphorus levels was not related to gender, education, or dialysis unit. There was a weak relationship between a decrease in phosphorus and an increase in knowledge about phosphorus (r = 0.21). However, calcium levels improved significantly after the teaching intervention (t [28] = 3.23, p = 0.003). Mean overall scores for knowledge about phosphorus control increased significantly also (t [28] = 2.60, p = < 0.01).

The findings of this study demonstrated that an education session can have an effect on patients' knowledge and compliance.