The Effects of Telephone-Based Telenursing on Perceived Stressors among Older Adults Receiving Hemodialysis

Older adults who receive hemodialysis face different physiological and psychosocial stressors. Management of physiological and psychosocial stressors is among their basic needs for a desirable life.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of telephone‑based telenursing on perceived stressors among older adults receiving hemodialysis.

This quasi‑experimental study was conducted in 2018 on sixty older adults who were receiving hemodialysis. Participants were conveniently recruited from the hemodialysis centers of Shahid Beheshti and Imam Khomeini hospitals, Babol and Behshahr, Iran, and were randomly allocated to a control and an intervention group. A 3‑month telephone‑based telenursing program was implemented for participants in the intervention group. Physiological and psychosocial stressors were assessed before and after the study intervention. Data were analyzed using the Chi‑square, paired‑samples t, and independent‑samples t‑tests.

The mean score of physiological stressors in the intervention group statistically significantly reduced from 17.33 ± 1.74 at pretest to 11.96 ± 3.16 at posttest (P < 0.001), whereas it statistically insignificantly changed in the control group from 17.30 ± 1.66 to 17.16 ± 3.03 (P = 0.747). Moreover, the mean score of psychosocial stressors in the intervention group statistically significantly reduced from 57.80 ± 8.17 at pretest to 32.53 ± 5.84 at posttest (P = 0.001), but statistically insignificantly changed in the control group from 61.2 ± 9.03 to 62.53 ± 6.04 (P = 0.416). Although the between‑group differences respecting the pretest mean scores of physiological and psychosocial stressors were not statistically significant (P > 0.05), there were significant between‑group differences respecting the posttest mean scores and the pretest‑posttest mean differences of both physiological and psychosocial stressors (P < 0.05).

Telenursing is effective in significantly reducing perceived stressors among older adults receiving hemodialysis. Nurses can use telenursing to reduce stressors among this patient population.