Abstract
A psycho-sociological study was conducted on 20 patients with or without adequate water control. Fourteen of 20 patients had adequate water control with an average rate of weight gain less than 4% of the dry body weight.
Six of the patients had poor water control with an average weight gain of more than 6%.
To evaluate the social status as well as the level of understanding on hemodialysis, we used 50 different questions. Psychological evaluation was conducted using the Y-G, Ucida and Kraepelin, and CAS tests.
Results: 1) Patients with poor water control had various problems within the family as well as in their roles in society, as compared with the patients with adequate water control. 2) The level of understanding of hemodialysis was poor among those patients with poor water control. 3) The Y-G test revealed a significant difference between patients with and without adequate water control. 4) The Uchida and Kraepelin test showed that the quantity of work done by those patients with poor water control was significantly less than those with adequate water control. It was suggest that the level of intelligence in the former group of patients was probably inferior to that in the latter group. 5) The CAS test revealed that those patients with poor water control showed poor self-management, and were not so resistant to frustration.
From this, we conclude that in those patients with poor water control, various psycho-sociological problems are one of the centributing factors in their maladaptation to long term hemodialysis.
