The Integrated Dialysis Care Burden on Patients with Dialysis Treatment: A Qualitative Systematic Review Study

Objective: To explore the burden experienced during dialysis care integration in patient’s life. Methods: A systematic search was employed and focused on qualitative studies. We searched some reference lists of eligible studies published 2018-2022. We followed the PRISMA guidelines. The analysis and synthesis process employed a meta-ethnography study. Findings were revealed by using five stages framework analysis. Results: Sixteen studies were included. We identified that the dialysis care integration burden had been perceived since the initial decision of dialysis care integration. Patients felt powerless since they were provided no choice of medical intervention. The perceived service affordability and barriers had added more burden experience of dialysis care integration. The dialysis care integration restricts various aspects of the patient’s life: food and drinks intake, mobilization, and activity. Several pieces of literature highlighted the feeling of being pointless and wasting their life. Life distortion due to dialysis affected biopsychosocial wellness. The strategy for integrated dialysis care required utilizing numerous resources to build positive coping strategies. The majority of studies acknowledged the acceptance strategy to cope with their current health situation. Conclusion: This finding had signified that dialysis patients demanded assistance from myriad resources to adjust to the current dialysis care. Keywords: Burden; Dialysis; Experience; Psychological; Qualitative study