Abstract: Objective To investigate the prevalence and predictors of Internet use by maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. Methodology A questionnaire surveying Internet use was delivered in person to MHD patients in five dialysis centers in four different cities in Sichuan Province. The survey results were then statistically analyzed. Results A total of 355 patients completed the questionnaires with the response rate of 88.3%. The average age of the respondents was 49.5±15.4 years old. There were 323 patients (91.%) aged over 30 years old, 333 patients (93.8%) with education level below high school, 331 patients (93.2%) without a stable job, and 265 patients (74.6%) with a family income under 50,000 yuan per year. The participants were divided into Internet user group and non-Internet user group. Age (t=12.830, P＜0.001), educational level (t= 5.440, P＜0.001), and family income (t=7.276, P＜0.001) were significantly different between the two groups, but gender (t=0.119, P=0.906), marital status (t=-0.545, P=0.586), and jobs (t=-1.298, P=0.052) had no differences between the two groups. Cox regression model showed that age (OR=-0.078, 95% CI 0.907～ 0.945, P＜0.001), educational level (OR=0.194, 95% CI 1.030～1.425, P=0.019) and family income (OR= 1.331, 95% CI 2.015～6.921, P＜0.001) were the independent factors for Internet use in MHD patients. Conclusion Internet use should be encouraged further in MHD patients. Age, education level and family income are the independent factors for Internet use in these patients. Internet plus medical technology have shown increasing importance in the integrated management of chronic diseases, requiring more exploration and social support.

Key words: hemodialysis, survey, internet, effective factor