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The fatigue experience of haemodialysis patients in Taiwan
Author(s) -
Lee BihO,
Lin ChiuChu,
Chaboyer Wendy,
Chiang ChiuLing,
Hung ChuanChuan
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of clinical nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.94
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1365-2702
pISSN - 0962-1067
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2005.01409.x
Subject(s) - feeling , cognition , coping (psychology) , medicine , psychology , clinical psychology , physical therapy , psychiatry , social psychology
Aims and objectives. To expand the theoretical understanding of fatigue, this study used in‐depth interview to explore the fatigue experience from haemodialysis patients’ perspectives. Background. Fatigue is a common symptom experienced by the people with chronic diseases including those with renal failure requiring haemodialysis. Methods. Data were collected in a haemodialysis unit of a hospital in South Taiwan. Purposive samples of 14 participants were interviewed in‐depth. Colaizzi's methods were used to analyse transcripts of the interviews. Results. Ten themes were delineated and classified into three domains. The first domain ‘physical fatigue’ consists of four themes: (1) habitual fatigue, (2) experiencing the uraemic symptoms (3) suffering from sleeping disturbance, (4) insufficient physical energy. The second domain ‘affective fatigue’ contains three themes: (5) detesting long‐term treatment, (6) perceiving depression (7) and feeling exhausted. The third domain ‘cognitive fatigue’ includes three themes: (8) regretting lost cognition, (9) intentional isolation and (10) coping with fatigue. Conclusions. The findings identify that fatigue is a multi‐dimensional concept. By understanding the various aspects of fatigue, nurses may be better able to plan and provide fatigue‐relieving strategies for haemodialysis patients. Relevance to clinical practice. The results can provide a direction for interventional studies designed to reduce the patients’ fatigue.