Abstract
Globally, Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is highly prevalent (10-13% of the population), irreversible, progressive, and associated with higher cardiovascular risk. The diagnosis of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) is still a death sentence in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In Ghana, some patients with moderate to advanced CKD eventually progress to end-stage renal disease and have poor quality of life (QOL). Attempts to lower the morbidity and mortality of kidney disease may be thwarted by rising economic and health inequities, migration, demographic change, unsafe working conditions, environmental risks, natural disasters, and pollution. Young adults perform worse than younger adolescents do or older people because they have lifestyle restrictions, missed educational opportunities, and missed social possibilities.
The purpose of this study was to explore the quality of life of young adults living with chronic renal disease at a Tertiary hospital in Ghana.
The Qualitative exploratory descriptive approach was employed in this study. A purposive sampling technique was used to recruit 15 young adults diagnosed with CKD who visited the Renal unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for data collection. Participants were interviewed for between 30 and 45 minutes using a semi-structured interview guide. Thematic analysis served as the primary method of data analysis for the interview data, after the audio-recorded interviews had been transcribed verbatim. Four significant themes and thirteen sub-themes emerged.
The study revealed that the quality of life of young adults was affected by CKD as they had negative physical and psychological outcomes. The cost of treatment for CKD was also very high and often unbearable for the young adults. Furthermore, there were little to no social support systems in place to help these young adults cope with this illness.
These findings have implications for nursing education, practice, and research. There is a need for awareness creation in addition to providing financial, social and psychological support for people affected by CKD due to its chronic nature. Subsidizing treatment costs, compliance with treatment protocols, regular physical checkups and adoption of a healthy lifestyle may help ease the burden on individuals who already have CKD and also help prevent and detect people who are at risk and intervene appropriately.
Notes
References:
1. Ammirati, A. L. (2020). Chronic kidney disease. Revista Da Associacao Medica Brasileira, 66, 3–9. https://doi.org/10.1590/1806-
9282.66.S1.3.
2. Ania-González, N., Martín-Martín, J., Amezqueta-Goñi, P., & Vázquez-Calatayud, M. (2022). The needs of families who care for individuals
with kidney failure on comprehensive conservative care: A qualitative systematic review. In Journal of Renal Care (Vol. 48, Issue 4, pp. 230–242). John Wiley and Sons Inc. https://doi.org/10.1111/jorc.12415.
3. Arogundade, F. A., Omotoso, B. A., Adelakun, A., Bamikefa, T., Ezeugonwa, R., Omosule, B., Sanusi, A. A., & Balogun, R. A. (2020a).
Burden of end-stage renal disease in sub-Saharan Africa. Clinical Nephrology, 93(1), S3–S7. https://doi.org/10.5414/CNP92S101
4. Boateng, E. A., East, L., & Evans, C. (2018). Decision-making experiences of patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) regarding
treatment in Ghana: A qualitative study. BMC Nephrology, 19(1), 371. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12882-018-1175-z
Sigma Membership
Chi Omicron
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Descriptive/Correlational
Research Approach
Qualitative Research
Keywords:
Hospice, Palliative, End-of-Life, Long-term Care, Stress and Coping, Global Health Issues, Ethics, Young Adults, Chronic Kidney Disease, CKD, Ghana
Recommended Citation
Achempim-Ansong, Gloria; Ampohah, Menford Owusu; and Tanko Adams, Ramatu, "Quality of Life of Young Adults Living with Chronic Kidney Disease at a Tertiary Hospital in Ghana" (2025). Biennial Convention (CONV). 31.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/convention/2025/presentations_2025/31
Conference Name
48th Biennial Convention
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2025-11-18
Quality of Life of Young Adults Living with Chronic Kidney Disease at a Tertiary Hospital in Ghana
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Globally, Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is highly prevalent (10-13% of the population), irreversible, progressive, and associated with higher cardiovascular risk. The diagnosis of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) is still a death sentence in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In Ghana, some patients with moderate to advanced CKD eventually progress to end-stage renal disease and have poor quality of life (QOL). Attempts to lower the morbidity and mortality of kidney disease may be thwarted by rising economic and health inequities, migration, demographic change, unsafe working conditions, environmental risks, natural disasters, and pollution. Young adults perform worse than younger adolescents do or older people because they have lifestyle restrictions, missed educational opportunities, and missed social possibilities.
The purpose of this study was to explore the quality of life of young adults living with chronic renal disease at a Tertiary hospital in Ghana.
The Qualitative exploratory descriptive approach was employed in this study. A purposive sampling technique was used to recruit 15 young adults diagnosed with CKD who visited the Renal unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for data collection. Participants were interviewed for between 30 and 45 minutes using a semi-structured interview guide. Thematic analysis served as the primary method of data analysis for the interview data, after the audio-recorded interviews had been transcribed verbatim. Four significant themes and thirteen sub-themes emerged.
The study revealed that the quality of life of young adults was affected by CKD as they had negative physical and psychological outcomes. The cost of treatment for CKD was also very high and often unbearable for the young adults. Furthermore, there were little to no social support systems in place to help these young adults cope with this illness.
These findings have implications for nursing education, practice, and research. There is a need for awareness creation in addition to providing financial, social and psychological support for people affected by CKD due to its chronic nature. Subsidizing treatment costs, compliance with treatment protocols, regular physical checkups and adoption of a healthy lifestyle may help ease the burden on individuals who already have CKD and also help prevent and detect people who are at risk and intervene appropriately.
Description
The study sought to explore the quality of life of young adults living with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) at a Tertiary hospital in Ghana. The Qualitative exploratory descriptive approach was employed in this study. The study revealed that young adults living with CKD had negative physical and psychological outcomes, and the cost of treatment for CKD was often unbearable for them. Furthermore, there were little to no social support systems in place to help these young adults cope with the illness.