Page 16 - JCBP-2-4

Journal of Clinical and

Basic Psychosomatics

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Stigma in maintenance hemodialysis patients: A

cross-sectional study

Lizhen Wang and Wei Ye*
Department of Nephrology, Jinshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Abstract

This study aimed to explore stigma and its predictors among patients undergoing
maintenance hemodialysis. We utilized corresponding scales to measure both
stigma and quality of life, and examining their correlations. Clinical and laboratory
data were obtained through self-reported scales and medical records, screening for
possible predictors associated with stigma. We recruited 115 patients in this study,
with an average age of 52.14 ± 11.84 years. The level of stigma indicated correlations
with all modules of the SF-36 scale. Specifically, bodily pain, general health, vitality,
social functioning, role-emotional, and mental health modules had significant
relationships with stigma (P < 0.05). Internalized stigma was significantly related to
uremic pruritus and the duration of hemodialysis (P < 0.05). Enacted stigma revealed
a significant relationship with uremic pruritus, the Beck Depression Inventory score,
and the Beck Anxiety Inventory score (P < 0.05). Overall, stigma appears to exert
negative impacts on the quality of life of patients undergoing incident hemodialysis.
The occurrence of internalized stigma may be related to uremic pruritus and the
duration of hemodialysis, while enacted stigma may be associated with uremic
pruritus, depression, and anxiety.
*Corresponding author:
Wei Ye Keywords: Maintenance hemodialysis; Stigma; Quality of life; Internalized stigma;
(yewei_cn@126.com)
Enacted stigma
Citation: Wang L, Ye W. Stigma in
maintenance hemodialysis patients:
A cross-sectional study. J Clin Basic
Psychosom. 2024;2(4):2181.
doi: 10.36922/jcbp.2181 1. Introduction
Received: November 6, 2023 Stigma was initially defined as “the situation of an individual who is disqualified from
Accepted: March 13, 2024 full social acceptance” . 1(preface) Unfriendly attitudes, such as stereotypes, prejudice, and
discrimination held by others, have adverse consequences for people with stigmatizing
Published Online: July 16, 2024 conditions. Importantly, stigma exacerbates the physical and mental health challenges
2,3
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). of people already suffering from chronic illnesses. Kurzban and Leary specifically
4
5
This is an Open-Access article found that individuals with illness have worse prospects and could not offer physical,
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution social, emotional, and economic value to others. This conceptualization suggests that
License, permitting distribution, stigma should be prevalent and similar among patients with different chronic illnesses.
and reproduction in any medium, Stigma can lead to adverse consequences, such as social isolation and a lack of social
provided the original work is
properly cited. support, which can become a very powerful stressor and further cause more adverse
psychosomatic reactions. 5
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with There are approximately 3 million patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD)
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional worldwide undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. They belong to a special population
affiliations. of chronic illness patients, and their management should follow the biopsychosocial

Volume 2 Issue 4 (2024) 1 doi: 10.36922/jcbp.2181