The relationship between illness perceptions and fluid-control adherence among Chinese hemodialysis patients: a cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

Fluid-control adherence was important for hemodialysis (HD) patients, and while significant correlations between treatment adherence and illness perceptions have been found, there is limited research that explored the relationship between illness perceptions and fluid-control adherence. We sought to assess illness perceptions and fluid-control adherence and to explore the relationship between them among Chinese hemodialysis patients. A cross-sectional study of 253 Chinese HD patients was conducted. We recorded sociodemographic and disease characteristics, Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) responses, Fluid Control in Hemodialysis Patients Scale (FCHPS) scores and the interdialytic weight gain (IDWG). The total FCHPS score of hemodialysis patients was of a moderate level, and 45.85% hemodialysis patients’ IDWG exceeded 3.0 kg. Regression analysis revealed that sex, academic level, marital status, treatment control dimension and causal (physical) factors of illness perceptions explained 12.7% variance in the total FCHPS score. Age, normalized whole-body urea clearance (Kt/V), dry weight (DW) residual urine volume (mL/24 h) and consequence dimension of illness perceptions explained 29.0% variance in IDWG. About mediating effect analysis, positive indirect effects on IDWG were found for identity, consequences and emotional representations through the attitude dimension of FCHPS, and negative indirect effects on IDWG were found for treatment control and illness coherence through the attitude dimension of FCHPS. The results demonstrated that some sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and illness perceptions were associated with fluid-control adherence, and the patient’s attitude toward fluid control is an important mediator between illness perceptions and IDWG, implying that attitude can be a focus of intervention programs based on illness perceptions to improve Chinese HD patients’ fluid-control adherence.

KEYWORDS:

• Fluid-control adherence
• hemodialysis
• illness perceptions

Geolocation information

The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, China.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [Jun Yan], upon reasonable request.

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully thank the medical staff and all the patients they serve.

Disclosure statement

None of the authors have any conflict of interest.

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2023.2216467