Depression in Dialysis: A Poor Prognostic Factor and the Mechanism behind It

Abstract

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is one of the most common psychiatric illnesses. The effect of depression on one’s physical health is well-known, which can include anything from weight gain or loss to chronic illnesses such as heart disease, kidney or gastrointestinal problems. Provided the increasing prevalence of patients suffering from End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) and receiving dialysis treatment, it is important to investigate how MDD affects the outcome of their treatment. The incidence of depression in dialysis patients ranges from 10% to 66% in various studies, with prevalence reaching as high as 100%. The purpose of this article is to find the prevalence and severity of major depressive disorder in dialysis patients as well as to describe the possible pathways MDD worsens the dialysis outcome. Our study population consisted of 51 End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients sampled from the Department of Nephrology at BIRDEM General Hospital. Neurocognitive, physical symptoms, the severity of MDD and presence of comorbid conditions including diabetics and hypertension, were measured in our study. The ESRD patient sample consisted 47.7% moderately depressed patients, 34% severely depressed, 11.4% mild and 6.8% with minimal MDD patients. Analogous to Hypertension and Diabetic patients with depression, the number of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) patients with mostly moderate severe depression increased with the duration of the disease. The article explains a myriad of biologic, behavioral, genetic and social factors underlying the association of depression and adverse medical outcomes in patients with CKD and ESRD. Moreover, neuroimaging data is analyzed to further discuss the relationship between Depression and CKD. The implication of this study is to emphasize the importance of dialysis patients’ overall health and to serve as a building block for further research into depression in dialysis patients.