Abstract:

Abstract The aim of the study was to understand the meaning of the physical experiences of people with kidney disease when living on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis at home in relation to the body. Qualitative, ethnographic study, from a critical interpretative perspective and from Medical Anthropology carried out in a hospital in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Twenty people participated in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, with data obtained between April 2013 and June 2014 through open, semi-structured interviews and participant observation. Conventional content analysis was used, and six categories were constructed: Marked body, Threatened body, Extended body, Imprisoned body, Limited body and Reflective body. People use the body as reference for themselves, by valuing physical experiences, and the meaning they give to them, to make choices, make decisions and keep life on dialysis. Such a process is built and transformed by dialysis, which is incorporated into the body, over time and environment.

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