Fluid Restriction and Quality of Life on Dialysis

Almost 30,000 people in the UK receive dialysis due to end stage renal disease (ESRD). Although dialysis prolongs life, people receiving dialysis are still typically bothered by a range of physical symptoms and need to make substantial adjustments in order to accommodate ESRD and its treatment. One adjustment that is often required is a dramatic reduction in fluid intake. Although sticking to fluid intake restrictions improves the efficiency of dialysis, monitoring fluid intake is complicated. The restrictions also leave people feeling very thirsty so restrictions can be hard to stick to. This project will develop and test a brief psychological intervention for people who struggle to adhere to fluid intake restrictions and will aim to increase quality of life whilst on dialysis. The intervention will be developed with input from people with lived experience of ESRD. It will then be offered to 12 people, recruited from clinics, who will complete questionnaires to monitor experiences and symptoms before, during and after the intervention. Participants' data will be analysed to find out whether the intervention has been helpful in reducing fluid intake and improving quality of life. If the findings are promising, this would suggest that the intervention could be tested in a larger clinical study in the future.