European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Introduction-Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a condition in which there is structural or
functional damage to the kidneys and they are unable to function properly. Recent studies
have shown that patients with CKD have three times more of depression thanthose in the
general population. Depression in CKD patientsis also associated with poor quality of life
andadverse clinical outcome. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence
of depression and factors affecting them. Materials & Method-A total of 62 patients of
either gender and aged ≥18 years diagnosed with CKD were enrolled. These patients were
analysed for demographic parameters, stage of CKD, its duration, their co-morbidities and
serum creatinine levels. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)was used to screen
depression. Montgomery–Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) was used to rate
severity of depression. Suicidal ideations were assessed using the modified scale for suicidal
ideation. Result-The mean age of the patients was 52.4 years. Among them 59.6% were male
and 40.3% were females. In age group based analysis, majority (43.5%) of patients were
found to be elderly. The prevalence of depression was more (62.4%) in the age group of 40–
60 years. Among them 45.1 % of them were in CKD stage V and 58% of the patients were
having CKD for ≤ 3 years. Among these patients 46.7% had at least two or more
comorbidities in which 55.1% were suffering from hypertension, diabetes Mellitus &
dyslipidaemia. The level of serum creatinine showed that 51.6% had their levels <5 mg/dl.
Further, we found that 45.1 % of patients among which 37% had severe depression.
However, we found that majority of patients (56.4%) had low suicidal ideations.Conclusion-
The findings of our study suggest that CKD patients should be concurrently evaluated for
depression so that an early diagnosis of depression could be done which may help in
improving the quality of life of CKD patients. Moreover, a standard rehabilitation program
can also be designed which may be important and clinically beneficial for them.