Objective:

To measure the activation of hemodialysis patients and determine the factors associated with the activation of this population.

Materials and method:

Exploratory, descriptive and cross-sectional study with 162 hemodialysis patients residing in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Data was collected from January to April 2019, using instruments for sociodemographic, socioeconomic and clinical evaluation and the 13-item Patient Activation Measure scale. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and Poisson regression with robust variance.

Results:

The activation measure of the studied patients ranged from 39.4 to 90.7 points, with a mean of 60.85 ± 15.57 points and a median of 53.2 (ci: 58.4-63.3). Among participants, 52.5 % (n = 85) reported low activation, while the smallest share of patients (18.5 %, n = 30) was classified within level 3. A higher level of educational attainment and not requiring a caregiver were the variables associated with a higher prevalence of high activation among these patients.

Conclusions:

Although the variables associated with high activation cannot be modified by health professionals, recognizing them allows us to infer the profile of hemodialysis patients in need for interventions aimed at increasing their activation levels.

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