Pain significantly impacts the quality of life for kidney failure patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis . Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is used as an alternative to pharmacological therapy to manage pain. However, its effectiveness among dialysis-dependent kidney failure patients remains underexplored. To address this gap, a study has investigated whether pain coping skills training (PCST), a form of CBT, could reduce pain interference in 643 kidney failure patients on maintenance hemodialysis.
The study showed that PCST significantly reduced pain interference compared to usual care at 12 weeks. A higher percentage of patients in the PCST group experienced clinically meaningful pain reduction (50.9% vs 36.6%). Notably, this effect persisted at week 24 but was diminished at week 36. Additionally, PCST reduced pain intensity, catastrophizing, depression, and anxiety and…
