Depression and health-related quality of life in maintenance hemodialysis patients.
BACKGROUND
This study was designed to determine the prevalence of depression among hemodialysis (HD) patients from urban hospitals in Korea, to illustrate demographic factors and biomarkers associated with depression and health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and to demonstrate association between depression and HRQOL.


METHODS
For this multicenter, cross-sectional study, 160 HD patients from 3 university teaching hospitals and 3 local dialysis units in Korea were enrolled. Korean Beck's depression inventory and Korean version of Kidney Disease Quality of Life short form, version 1.3 (KDQOL-SFTM 1.3) were used to evaluate depression and quality of life, respectively.


RESULTS
Depression was found in 51 out of 160 (31.9%) patients. Old age (> 60 years old), low hemoglobin level (< 10 g/dl), and low economic status were associated with depression, and old age (OR 6.138, p = 0.001) was the most important risk factor among them. Old age, female gender, presence of diabetes mellitus, high comorbidity index score (modified Charlson comorbidity index > or = 6), hypoalbuminemia (< 4.0 g/dl), and high CRP (> 0.5 mg/dl) were common factors associated with decreased HRQOL. Depression and HRQOL showed inverse linear relationship.


CONCLUSIONS
Moderate to severe depression was common in maintenance HD patients in Korea. Among factors associated with depression and decreased HRQOL, some characteristics are potentially modifiable by social and medical intervention. Further prospective studies are warranted to see whether depression and HRQOL can be improved by modifying these factors.
Park
H C
HC
Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Yoon
H-B
HB
Son
M-J
MJ
Jung
E S
ES
Joo
K W
KW
Chin
H J
HJ
Oh
K H
KH
Lim
C S
CS
Kim
Y S
YS
Ahn
C
C
Han
J S
JS
Kim
S
S
Hahm
B-J
BJ
Oh
Y K
YK
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000378:metabolism / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
D015415:Biomarkers