• Ann E Horigan.
• Duke University School of Nursing, Durham, NC 27710, USA. ah40@duke.edu
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2012 Nov 1;44(5):715-24.

ContextEnd-stage renal disease is a common chronic illness increasing in incidence and prevalence. Although kidney function is partially replaced through dialysis, patients endure many symptoms of the disease such as fatigue. Many factors have been studied regarding their relationship with fatigue in this population.ObjectivesTo provide a state of the science review regarding fatigue in hemodialysis patients by examining the experience of fatigue for patients on hemodialysis and correlates of fatigue in patients on hemodialysis.MethodsPubMed, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO, and Sociological Abstracts were searched using the key terms "fatigue," "dialysis," and "hemodialysis." Articles written after 1980 and those with explicit findings related to fatigue were included in this review. Articles that discussed fatigue in peritoneal dialysis patients or renal transplant patients were not included.ResultsThere is little knowledge regarding the experience of fatigue for patients on hemodialysis and there has been little success identifying demographic, psychosocial, or physiological factors that are consistently related to fatigue.ConclusionFurther work in this area of inquiry would be of benefit and may shed light on the domains of life that are affected by fatigue for hemodialysis patients. It also may help deepen our knowledge regarding correlates that could identify hemodialysis patients who are at increased risk for fatigue.Copyright © 2012 U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Committee. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

21 keywords...

hide…