Coping strategies and quality of life among patients on hemodialysis and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

A consecutive series of hemodialysis (HD) patients (n = 30) was included in a descriptive-comparative design. The aim was to study coping strategies a nd quality of life compared to a group of patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Coping was measured on the Jalowiec Coping Sca le. Quality of life was measured by the Swedish Health-Related Quality of L ife Survey (SWED-QUAL). An optimistic coping style was the most widely adop ted by men and women in both groups, and this style was also considered to be the most effective in terms of dealing with stressful treatment aspects. The HD sample used more evasive coping strategies than the CAPD sample. Co mpared to a sample from the general population, HD patients had lower value s on all SWED-QUAL subscales. Further, the CAPD women scored lower on gener al health than did the HD women. Significant gender differences were found in that men in both samples regarded themselves as better able to cope with physical aspects of the illness. Women in both samples scored lower on gen eral health. It seems important to identify patients who use emotive, evasi ve and palliative coping techniques extensively, because they seem to be le ss effective at handling their illnesses.