Barriers to and Strategies for Dietary Adherence: A Qualitative Study Among Hemodialysis/Peritoneal Dialysis Patients and Health Care Providers

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of this study were: (1) investigate hemodialysis (HD)/peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients' barriers to dietary adherence, (2) identify strategies to overcome these barriers, and (3) examine dialysis providers' perceptions toward patients’ barriers to dietary adherence and strategies to overcome these barriers. Methods: A qualitative descriptive approach was conducted from February-May 2022. A total of 21 HD/PD participants and 11 health care providers participated in individual interviews. HD/PD participants also responded to a 57-item food frequency questionnaire. Six months of serum laboratory values were obtained from the medical charts. Content analysis methodology was used to identify themes. Mann-Whitney U tests were conducted to examine diet quality and laboratory values of the HD and PD participants using SPSS v.27 with statistical significance of P