Coping and quality of life in patients on kidney transplant waiting lists

Objective: To characterize the coping and quality of life profile of patients on kidney transplant waiting lists. Methods: Cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, which entailed interviews with patients over 18 years of age, able to read and write, and on a kidney transplant waiting list. Patients waiting for more than one organ were excluded. The results were presented using descriptive statistics-absolute and relative distribution (n - %), as well as central tendency and variability measurements. The data distribution of the continuous variables was analyzed by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. In the comparison of the relative scores of the styles and dimensions for quality of life between two independent groups, the Mann-Whitney U test was used. When the continuous variables were compared with the types of treatment (with number of cases over five), the Kruskal-Wallis post-hoc Dunn test was used. The linearity relationship between the scores of the Jalowiec Coping Scale (JCS) styles and the SF-36 dimensions was determined through the Spearman correlation coefficient. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 20.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA, 2008) for Windows. For the statistical decision criteria, a level of significance of 5% was adopted. Results: Of the total 58 patients, 30 (51.7%) were men, with a mean age of 44.6 (+/- 15.2) years. The coping profile was self-reliant (42) and optimistic (6). The dimensions with the best quality of life were: pain (67.2%), social aspects (66.6) and mental health (65.4). There was a significant correlation (r<0.333) between the palliative style and vitality (r=-0.288; p=0.028) and the palliative style and social aspects (r=-0.283; p=0.031). There was also a significant correlation between general health status and the emotive (r=-0.424; p=0.025) and palliative styles (r=-0.524; p=0.004), as well as between vitality and the palliative style (r=-0.530; p=0.004). Among men, there was a significant correlation (0.300<r <= 0.600) in the comparison between the pain dimension and the confrontational (r=-0.413; p=0.023) and emotive (r=-0.370; p=0.044) styles. Conclusion: The study identified the coping profile of patients on hemodialysis and a kidney transplant waiting list. A self-reliant and optimistic profile was noted among most patients, and there were positive results on the quality of life of this population in relation to improvement in pain, social aspects and mental health. However, quality of life was negatively affected in reference to physical and emotional aspects.