[The person with renal chronic disease and caring demands].

The objective was to analyse the sources of attentional demands experienced by eight women with renal chronic disease undergone to hemodialisys treatment in a university hospital at the State of São Paulo. This is a qualitative study achieved by means of a semi-structured interview. The analysis was based on a content analysis technique. Among the demands the most important were: lack of perspective toward the future; death as an imminent possibility; lost of autonomy and dependence with the machine. Also important were maternal responsibility and the worry with friends that lived the same problem. These demands contribute to decrease the capacity to focus attention to important situations related to the treatment and the search for a better quality of life.