Abstract: Objective  To explore the symptom experiences in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) at home in order to provide the bases for improvement of symptomatic management.    Methods  Phenomenological study was conducted, involving semi-structured interviews with 11 PD patients. The Colaizzi's 7-step method was used for data analysis and theme extraction.  Results  The symptom experiences of home-based PD patients are summarized into 3 themes and 7 sub-themes: multi-faceted symptom perception (physiological, psychological, social); symptom evaluation (inadequate understanding of symptom causes, identification and assessment; insufficient self-management in medication, diet, fluid volume and exercise); symptom coping (problem-oriented coping, avoidant coping).  Conclusion  The dialysis care team should pay attention to the symptom experiences of PD patients, implement targeted and precise nursing care, and improve patients' symptom burden and quality of life.

Key words: Peritoneal dialysis, Symptomatic experience, Symptom management, Home care