ABSTRACT

Patients of renal diseases treated with different forms of dialysis, waiting for transplantation experience significant levels of distress. High levels of emotional discomfort may influence different aspects of their quality of life with considerable impact on their qualification for kidney transplantation. One of the main objectives of this paper is to investigate the problematic areas of psychological functioning in dialysis patients where intervention may be successful, and may help patients attain the appropriate levels of functioning necessary to qualify for transplantation. In order to achieve this objective, we compared a group of dialysis and a group of transplant patients regarding depression, anxiety, conscious cognitive emotion regulation strategies, and quality of life. Similarly, in order to evince the level of recovery in patients who have already benefited by successful renal transplantation, we compared the same aspects of functioning with healthy controls, thus identifying in transplant patients those areas of functioning where they may need additional aid.

KEYWORDS: chronic renal failure, end-stage renal disease, dialysis, quality of life, positive and negative emotions.

PAGES: 313-328