| Abstract: |
This article reports on a study that assessed the training provided by a dialysis unit to patients who are performing peritoneal dialysis (PD) self-treatment at home. The study included 32 patients––13 women, 19 men; mean age 44.3 years, plus or minus 15.3 years––who answered a training assessment form comprising 31 questions during home visits. The patients’ average number of correct answers was 81 percent. Questions related to feeding, constipation, changing room, peritonitis, infections, medication, and material were those most often incorrectly answered. Infection is one of the primary reasons that patients must return to in-center dialysis or switch to hemodialysis; infectious complications are responsible for up to 6 percent of patient deaths. The authors conclude that lack of information about food to be avoided points to the importance of including a dietitian on the patient care team. Patients focused only on peritonitis as the infectious complication to watch; they had incomplete knowledge about the symptoms of and how to prevent place-of-exit and tunnel infections. The authors stress that patient training, in the home, should be repeated and tested at predetermined intervals. A chart reprints the training evaluation form used in the study. 1 table. 12 references. |