Effects of Continuous Nursing Care on Hemodialysis Patients' Quality of Life and Lifestyle: An Application of the Information, Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Theory

Patients undergoing hemodialysis often experience a low quality of life, which can significantly impact their lifestyle. Despite various proposed solutions, these patients continue to face ongoing challenges.

This research aimed to investigate the effects of continuous nursing care, based on the Information, Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (IKAP) theory, on the quality of life and lifestyle of patients undergoing hemodialysis.

Sixty-eight patients receiving hemodialysis treatment at 2 university hospitals in Ahvaz met the inclusion criteria for this experimental research. With the simple random method, the participants were divided into 2 equal groups: the experimental group and the control group. In addition to routine care, the experimental group received 20 to 30 minutes of continuous nursing care based on the IKAP theory every 2 weeks, while the control group received only routine care. Three questionnaires were administered: A Demographic Information Questionnaire, a Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile, and a Kidney Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire-Short Form (KDQOL-SF), which were completed before the intervention, 1 month after, and 3 months after by both groups. Data analysis employed independent samples t-tests, chi-square tests, and repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA).

The nursing intervention based on the IKAP model had a significant impact on the quality of life and lifestyle of patients undergoing hemodialysis. In the experimental group, the mean score for overall quality of life before and after the intervention showed a statistically significant difference (P < 0.001), while in the control group, this difference was not significant (P = 0.807). Similarly, the mean score for lifestyle in the experimental group before and after the intervention was statistically significant (P < 0.001), whereas there was no significant difference in the control group (P = 0.991).

Nursing intervention based on the IKAP model has a positive effect on improving the quality of life and lifestyle of patients undergoing hemodialysis. Therefore, it is important to inform health care providers and policymakers about this model, which can serve as a reference for health education in hospitals and other health care centers.