Association between health-related hope and distress from restrictions in chronic kidney disease and dialysis.

Background: In chronic kidney disease (CKD), the durability of patient adherence to fluid and dietary restrictions may depend on the degree to which they have hope that they will enjoy life. Previous cross-sectional studies have shown that higher hope was associated with lower distress from fluid and dietary restrictions and better adherence in the short term. In this study, we aimed to examine the long-term relationship of hope with distress from fluid and dietary restrictions.

Methods: This prospective observational cohort study included 444 patients with CKD undergoing dialysis in one of five Japanese nephrology centers. Hope as a predictor was measured using an 18-item health-related hope scale. Outcomes were two-item measures of distress from fluid and dietary intake restrictions using the Japanese version of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form, Version 1.3 (higher scores indicate lower levels of distress). Multivariate linear mixed models were used to estimate the association of baseline health-related hope with distress from fluid and dietary restrictions at baseline and follow-up.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 67 years, and 31.1% of them were females. In total, 124, 98, and 222 had non-dialysis CKD, peritoneal dialysis, and hemodialysis, respectively. Higher levels of baseline health-related hope were associated with lower levels of distress from fluid restriction after one year (per 10-point increase, 2.6 points (95% confidence interval, 1.0 to 4.1)); whereas the baseline score was not associated with the distress from fluid restriction at 2 years. Similarly, higher levels of baseline health-related hope were associated with lower levels of distress from dietary restriction after one year (per 10-point increase, 2.0 points (95% confidence interval, 0.3 to 3.6)); whereas the baseline score was not associated with the distress from dietary restriction at 2 years.

Conclusions: Health-related hope, regardless of depression, can potentially mitigate long-term distress from fluid and dietary restrictions in patients with a wide range of CKD severities.

Trial registration: UMIN000054710.