The relationship between religious coping, psychological distress and quality of life in hemodialysis patients

OBJECTIVE: No studies have evaluated the relationship among religious coping, psychological distress and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with End stage renal disease (ESRD). This study assessed whether positive religious coping or religious struggle was independently associated with psychological distress and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in hemodialysis patients. METHODS: This cross-sectional study recruited a random sample of 170 patients who had ESRD from three outpatient hemodialysis units. Socio-demographic and clinical data were collected. Patients completed the Brief RCOPE, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life instrument-Abbreviated version (WHOQOL-Bref). RESULTS: Positive or negative religious coping strategies were frequently adopted by hemodialysis patients to deal with ESRD. Religious struggle correlated with both depressive (r=0.43; P