Level of knowledge about self-care with avf in frequent chronic kidney patients in a hemodialysis clinic in southwestern goiano

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has high rates of incidence and prevalence and is defined as changes in glomerular filtration rate and/or presence of parenchymal damage maintained for at least three months. When in an advanced stage, renal replacement therapies (RRT) are essential for the maintenance of the patient's life and the arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is considered the best vascular access for this. Thus, self-care is part of the human ability to take care of oneself and, with regard to the AVF, it aims to preserve the integrity and proper functioning. The data collected showed that 63% of the patients studied had an adequate result in terms of knowledge about self-care with the AVF. The best performances were observed in terms of hygiene, contraindicated hospital procedures, identification of functioning, and restrictions on necessary activities of daily living. On the other hand, the worst performances were: pre-access care, identification of changes related to the AVF, and identification of signs of infection. The study was relevant because it highlighted the importance of multidisciplinary work in the health education process of patients undergoing hemodialysis.