Correlation Between Stress and Resilience among Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis – A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract Introduction: Long-term hemodialysis is used to treat end-stage renal disease (ESRD), a chronic and progressive illness. Many individuals experienced numerous medical and psychological problems while receiving treatment. High levels of stress have been found to be detrimental to mental health, resilience and quality of life. Thus, the aim of the current study was to assess the relationship between stress and resilience in Hemodialysis dependent end-stage renal failure patients. Methods: Descriptive correlational cross-sectional design was used and 78 hemodialysis patients were selected by purposive sampling method. The level of stress and resilience were assessed using stress component of DASS-21 Rating scale and brief resilience scale. The statistical tests of mean, standard deviation, and Pearson Rank correlation coefficient were applied to the data analysis. Results: The study results revealed that the levels of stress to be categorized as normal – 48 (61.5%), mild – 14 (17.9%), moderate – 9 (11.5%), severe – 3 (3.9%), and extremely severe – 4 (5.2%), respectively, with the mean stress score of 13.41 ± 9. According to resilience 32.1% had low, 48.7% had normal, and 19.2% had high level of resilience with the mean value of 3.5 ± 0.8. Pearson rank correlation coefficient test r = −0.37 stated that moderate negative correlation exists between the level of stress and resilience, which is highly significant at P < 0.01. Conclusion: The results of the study revealed that hemodialysis patients’ resilience is influenced by their level of stress. As stress increases resilience decreases vice versa. This study revealed that developing resilience is the vital need for hemodialysis patients to improve the good quality of life and healthy mental wellbeing.