Quality of life: subjective descriptions of challenges to patients with end stage renal disease.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this qualitative study was to describe how persons with end stage renal disease (ESRD) experience and manage the quality of their daily lives. DESIGN: Naturalistic inquiry methods guided the collection of interview data and the use of content analysis and constant comparison techniques to inductively identify themes and categories of meaning. SAMPLE/SETTING: Participants were 80 adults recruited from an outpatient hemodialysis center. FINDINGS: The three emergent conceptual categories that describe the quality of everyday life among the study group were: 1) Life Restricted with sub-themes "tied down," "left out," and "doing without;" 2) Staying Alive with sub-themes "love from others," "accept it as part of life," and "trust in God;" and 3) Feeling Good with sub-themes "personal satisfaction" and "being happy." CONCLUSION: The insights shared by this study group can assist providers with planning and implementing educational and support programs for patients and families.