Incidencia de estreñimiento en una unidad de hemodiálisis

Abstract

Patients on haemodialysis programmes can often suffer from intestinal problems and illnesses, so we have decided to deal with an important problem, which is that of constipation. These patients have numerous risk factors for suffering from this illness, such as restrictions on the consumption of fruit, vegetables and other foodstuffs, and the fact that they take astringent medication, so we wished to know what influence these factors have and the percentage of patients who present the problem. We therefore performed a survey divided into two parts: the first collected personal detail and information on pharmacological treatment; and the second is composed of 14 questions relative to the risk factors. Forty patients were interviewed of different ages and nationalities. The most outstanding results of the research were that only 23% of the surveyed sample currently suffered from subjective constipation, as opposed to 13% objective constipation, and that the majority were men. More research is needed on this subject, so that these patients may receive intervention in the future to improve their quality of life.