Correlation between Religious Beliefs and Quality of Life in Dialysis Patients Referred to Shahid Rahnemoon Hospital, Yazd-2012

Introduction: The most important consequence of nephrogenic disease is the chronic renal failure and unfortunately, there is no significant program to improve the life quality of these patients. Although they need mental support as well as physical rehabilitation but all current endeavors focused on increasing their physical ability not the mental aspect. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between religious beliefs and quality of life in dialysis patients. Material and Methods: In this analytical descriptive study, the data were gathered by a questionnaire about patients' belief and life quality. In this study, the data of 56 patients including 20-60 year old people who were under dialysis treatment in Shahid Rahnemoon hospital in Yazd were gathered. The measurement instruments included a short-formed questionnaire of life quality (SF36) which investigated the condition of the patient and his/her life quality, and also a questionnaire of national approach of studying religious belief which included 66 questions regarding religious cultures. The data were analyzed by SPSS 16 software putting the descriptive statistics into use. T-test and non-parametric tests were done for data analyzing (with the level of significance of 5). Results: In 24 women and 32 men who were under venous dialysis treatment, the correlation between the degree of religious belief and life quality was significant (r= 0.34, P=0.01). Moreover, the correlation between scores of religious belief and life quality in patients experienced 4 to 8 years of dialysis & correlation between score of religious belief and life quality among those who had chronic disease were significant( r= 0.36 & r= 0.62 respectively ,P<0.05). Conclusion: The results of the study showed that due to the influence of religious belief on life quality of patients who were under dialysis treatment, their life quality can be improved through the proper program of teaching religious belief.