Introduction: The preservation of dignity is identified as a priority by people in various palliative settings. Human dignity consists of the intrinsic value of each person. Dignity violations in healthcare are behaviors that don’t respect that value. People undergoing hemodialysis are highly vulnerable, yet there are few studies assessing their sense of dignity. This study’s goal was to estimate the prevalence of different kinds of threats to the dignity of people undergoing hemodialysis in Portugal, as well as to assess their relationships with sociodemographic variables. Materials and methods: Quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study, using a self-administered 26-item dignity violations questionnaire, in a sample of people undergoing hemodialysis in non-hospital centers. Results: We collected 156 questionnaires from 6 centers. The mean age of participants was 64.2 (±14.4) years, and most were caucasian, Portuguese, catholic, and were on hemodialysis for over one year. Overall, 85.9% indicated they “never” or “rarely” feel their dignity threatened. The mode in every question was “never”. The most frequent dignity threats were flagged by 12.2% to 24.7% of participants, the most prominent being “having felt their feelings or opinion were ignored”, and “having felt they were treated as a group and not an individual”. We detected tendencies for a higher frequency of dignity threats in younger people, women, longer dialysis vintage, higher education, and absence of a partner; and we found no association with belonging to a racial minority, nationality, or religion. Conclusion: Most patients feel they never or rarely ever feel their dignity threatened. The most frequent types of dignity violations were Dismissal, Grouping, Indifference or Disregard, Condescension and Rudeness. The associations with sociodemographic variables need confirmation by future studies. A major limitation of studies about dignity violations is the exclusion of participants who are most at risk.
Date of Award | 4 Jun 2024 |
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Original language | Portuguese |
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Awarding Institution | - Universidade Católica Portuguesa
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Supervisor | Miguel Julião (Supervisor) |
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- Dignity
- Paliative care
- Chronic kidney disease
- Hemodialysis
- Mestrado em Cuidados Paliativos
Ameaças à dignidade de pessoas em hemodiálise
Costa, B. D. S. M. D. (Student). 4 Jun 2024
Student thesis: Master's Thesis