ABSTRACT
Introduction: Hemodialysis as a treatment in chronic renal failure is a stressful process and has several psycho-cognitive and social complications. The latter can cause mental disorders in such patients
Objective: As a result of high prevalence of psychosis, this investigation was done to determine mental health status in hemodialysis patients and then compare it with normal population group
Materials and Methods: This cross sectional research was carried out on [40 dialysis patients in Khatam hospital of Zahedan and 40 healthy persons who were matched in variables such as age, sex, marital status and education in 2002. In this study, the mental health status of experiment and control group were assessed and compared using the standard questionnaire of general health from consisting of 28 questions by descriptive and analytical statistics
Results: Finding showed that dialysis patients [mean =11/65] have lower mental health state than control or healthy group [mean = 6/20]. The result of T test shows a significant relation between these two group [p<0/001]. Also there are statistical significant relation between mental health status of dialysis patients and dialysis times in a week [p<0/009] and sex [p<0/03]
Conclusion: Considering lower mental health status of dialysis patients in this investigation, It is recommended that the psychological team apply therapeutic interventions by assessing them before and during dialysis period which can be effective in patient adjustment, coping and health promotion