Social support predicted quality of life in people receiving haemodialysis treatment: A cross-sectional survey.
Ali Alshraifeen, Sami Al-Rawashdeh, Karimeh Alnuaimi and 5 others
PMID 32802372WHAT IT FOUND
Higher perceived social support was associated with better quality of life in Jordanian patients receiving haemodialysis across physical, psychological, social and environmental domains.
The survey cannot show that support caused better quality of life.
Key findings
01Total perceived social support had significant positive correlations with all four quality-of-life domains.
02After controlling for age, gender, education, marital status, employment and other illnesses, perceived social support was a significant predictor of physical, psychological, social and environmental quality-of-life scores.
03Most participants reported medium to high perceived social support, while physical and environmental quality-of-life scores were the lowest.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The cross-sectional design cannot show that social support caused better quality of life. Participants were recruited by convenience sampling from Jordanian hospitals, so the sample may not represent other dialysis populations. The sample was mostly male and many participants had limited education, which may limit transferability. Quality of life and social support were measured by self-report questionnaires at one time point. The study did not test whether increasing social support improves quality of life. Family support was not significantly correlated with physical quality of life, so different support sources may matter differently.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. Funding was provided by Hashemite University.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that providing more social support will improve quality of life for dialysis patients. This was a one-time survey, so it shows association only; patients with better quality of life may also perceive more support.