Background and objectives: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major public health problem worldwide. Hemodialysis (HD) is the most common method of treating CKD. Dysfunctional attitudes play a major role in cognitive vulnerability and general health of HD patients. The aim of this study was to investigate relationship between dysfunctional attitudes and general health of patients with CKD undergoing HD.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on CKD patients undergoing HD at a hospital in Gorgan, Iran during 2018. Overall, 126 patients (69 men and 57 women) aged 15-89 years old were enrolled via simple random sampling. Data were collected using the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28), the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale-A (DAS-A) questionnaire and a demographic questionnaire. Collected data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 22) using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and Pearson correlation coefficient.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 54.9 ± 13.9 years old. Mean score of dysfunctional attitudes in HD patients was 26.32±9.9, which indicated dysfunctional attitudes. The mean score of GHQ-28 questionnaire was 26.77 ± 10.44, indicating low general health. There was a direct and statistically significant relationship between the score of dysfunctional attitudes and the GHQ-28 scores (P<0.001).

Conclusion: The results of this study showed a direct and significant relationship between dysfunctional attitudes and general health disorder in CKD patients undergoing HD.