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 and quality of life compared to a group of patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Coping was measured on the Jalowiec Coping Scale. Quality of life was measured by the Swedish Health-Related Quality of Life Survey (SWED-QUAL). An optimistic coping style was the most widely adopted 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. Compared to a sample from the general population, HD patients had lower values on all SWED-QUAL subscales. Further, the CAPD women scored lower on general 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 general health. It seems important to identify patients who use emotive, evasive and palliative coping techniques extensively, because they seem to be less effective at handling their illnesses.