Abstract
BACKGROUND: Regardless of the recent advances in Chronic Kidney Disease stage 5 (CKD-5) management people on dialysis face significant changes in their quality of life. The present study aimed to examine the relationship between psychological resilience and quality of life in patients undergoing in-center hemodialysis. METHODS: An initial sample of 150 adult patients on hemodialysis for more than 6 months was selected from hospitals in a Southern European country. The study used the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), the Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ), and the Kidney Disease Quality of Life (KDQOL-36) questionnaires to assess levels of psychological resilience, pain self-efficacy and quality of life. RESULTS: The results indicated that higher levels of psychological resilience were associated with higher levels of pain self-efficacy, which in turn led to better quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that psychological resilience and pain self-efficacy play important roles in the health-related quality of life of people on hemodialysis, regardless of demographic factors such as age and gender. These have implications for practice in CKD-5 management and highlight the importance of addressing psychological factors in dialysis care.