Background: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) patients undergoing hemodialysis often experience high stress levels due to the chronicity of illness, frequent hospital visits, lifestyle changes, and emotional burdens. Deep breathing exercises have been identified as a simple, cost-effective intervention to reduce stress.

Objectives:

1.       To assess the level of stress among CKD clients undergoing hemodialysis.

2.       To evaluate the effectiveness of deep breathing exercises in reducing stress.

3.       To find the association between the level of stress and selected demographic variables.

Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental one-group pre-test post-test design was used. Thirty CKD clients undergoing hemodialysis were selected using purposive sampling. A standardized perceived stress scale was administered before and after a week-long deep breathing exercise intervention. Data were analyzed using SPSS v25, applying descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results: Pre-test stress levels showed 43.3% of participants with high stress, 40% with moderate, and 16.7% with low stress. Post-intervention, only 13.3% had high stress while 60% showed low stress. Paired t-test revealed a significant reduction in stress levels (p<0.01). Demographic variables such as education (p=0.041) and income (p=0.036) showed significant associations with stress levels.