The Effect of Hemodialysis Patients’ Attitudes Towards Dietary Treatment on Dialysis Symptoms: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Study

Objective: This study was conducted to determine the effect of hemodialysis patients’ attitudes towards diet therapy on dialysis symptoms. Methods: The data of the randomized controlled study were collected from experimental (n=30) and control groups (n=30) at Gümüşhane Province Kelkit State Hospital between 1 November 2023 and 1 January 2024. Institutional and ethics committee permissions were obtained before the study. The experimental group patients were given training on diet therapy. “Patient information form”, “hemodialysis patients’ attitude scale towards diet therapy (HDTO)” and “dialysis symptom index (DSI)” were used to collect data. Data collection tools were applied before the study (pre-test), after the training was given (intermediate measurement) and one month later (post-test). The data were analyzed using the chi-square, repeated measures ANOVA test and independent groups t-test in the SPSS 25.0 package program. Results: It was determined that the post-training measurements (intermediate measurement) of the total HDTO and sub-dimensions score averages of the hemodialysis patients in the experimental group were higher than the pre-training (pre-test) measurements; and the measurements made 1 month after the training (post-test) were lower than the measurements made immediately after the training (intermediate measurement) (p<0.05). Again, the post-training measurements (intermediate measurement) of the DSI score averages of the experimental group of patients were lower than the pre-training (pre-test) measurements (p<0.05); it was determined that the measurements made 1 month after the training were given (post-test) did not differ from the measurements made immediately after the training (intermediate measurement) (p>0.05). Conclusion: In line with the findings, it was determined that the diet therapy training provided increased hemodialysis patients’ attitudes towards diet therapy and reduced dialysis symptoms.