Depression, symptoms and the quality of life in patients on hemodialysis for end-stage renal disease.
BACKGROUND
End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is a progressive, debilitating, chronic illness requiring nursing and medical interventions. The goal of this study was to explore the level of depression experienced by patients receiving hemodialysis (n = 146), and to compare the symptoms with the quality of life (QoL) between patients that were depressed and those that were not depressed.


METHODS
For this descriptive, cross-sectional survey, participants aged 18 and above were recruited from three different regions in the Republic of Korea. The level of depression, symptoms and QoL of the participants were measured by questionnaires from October to December 2006. The data was analyzed with descriptive statistics, the chi(2) and t test using the SPSS WIN 14.0 program.


RESULTS
The prevalence of depression (PHQ-9) among the participants was 25.34%. There were more symptoms reported in the depressed group of patients than in those that were not depressed. In addition, the QoL was not as good in the depressed group when compared to patients that were not depressed.


CONCLUSIONS
Therefore, the evaluation for depression may be an important part of the management of patients with ESRD. Further research is needed to understand the causal relationship between depression and health outcomes.
Son
Youn-Jung
YJ
Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea.
Choi
Kyung-Sook
KS
Park
Young-Rye
YR
Bae
Jun-Sang
JS
Lee
Jeong-Beom
JB
D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors