Planning a Social Activity to Improve Psychological Well-being and Quality of Life of Hemodialysis Patients: A Pilot Study

We aimed to investigate the impact of social activity on anxiety-depression, self-esteem and quality of life in hemodialysis patients. Ninety-one patients were recruited to the current study. Of these, 31 patients wanted to take part in a theater play, while 60 patients (group C) did not. Thirty-one patients were randomly assigned to two groups: Group A (N = 15) started activities immediately and group B (N = 16) was assigned to a waiting list to be included in the activity of theater acting four months later. Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale and World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale short form (WHOQOL-BREF) were used to compare psychological parameters and quality of life of the groups before and after the social activity. The patients who were younger, more literate, and wealthier, had longer disease duration, and who were feeling physically and psychologically well, were willing to participate in social activity. The impact of social activity was evaluated between group A and C. After the social activity, there were significant differences in terms of depression (P = 0.008), self-esteem (P = 0.003), and physical (P = 0.04) and psychological (P = 0.05) sub-dimensions of quality of life between the groups. The depression score of the patients in group A decreased while their self-esteem increased, but the increase in the physical and psychological sub-dimension scores of quality of life scale did not reach statistical significance. This pilot study showed that social activity primarily improved depression and self-esteem in hemodialysis patients.