Frequency of Pain, Its Severity and Interference in Patients Receiving Hemodialysis

BACKGROUND: Hemodialysis is the treatment of choice for end-stage renal disease but there is increasing evidence that dialysis patients have a high burden of problems including pain which may affect their quality of life. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to find out the frequency of pain, its severity, and interference in patients receiving hemodialysis. METHODOLOGY: Data was collected from 218 patients from dialysis units of the Institute of Kidney Disease, Rehman Medical Institute, and Northwest General Hospital, Hayatabad Peshawar. A brief pain inventory questionnaire (BPI) was used to find out the frequency, severity, and interference of pain. RESULTS: The frequency of pain was 70.2%. The mean time period of treatment was 22.42 months (standard deviation (SD) 28.56). The pain was most commonly present in the lower limb. The calculated mean severity was 4.3 (SD 1.70) which showed most of the patients had mild pain. The mean interference of pain in general performance was calculated to be 5.6 (SD 2.10) which presented moderate interference. There was a significant correlation between mean pain severity and mean pain interference (P=0.000). Out of those 153 patients who reported pain, 119(77.78%) were taking medications for pain relief. CONCLUSION: Pain is a frequent problem reported by these patients. Out of those who had pain, greater than two third were taking medications for pain. Pain in these patients is the main cause of interference in the performance of general activities. So, it is important to manage the pain, and strategies other than medications should also be considered. KEYWORDS: Dialysis, End Stage Renal Disease, Hemodialysis, Interference, Pain