ANXIETY, DEPRESSION AND COGNITIVE CHANGES IN PATIENTS ON HEMODIALYSIS

Anxiety, Depression and Cognitive Changes

Abstract

Objective: To asses Anxiety, Depression and Cognitive changes in patients of chronic renal failure on hemodialysis.
Study design: Cross-sectional descriptive study.
Place and duration of study: Department of nephrology, Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Lahore from March to July 2010.
Patients and Methods: Forty one patients at end stage renal disease on hemodialysis were selected from Nephrology department CMH Lahore. Written informed consent was obtained. Diagnostic instruments like Hospital Depression and Anxiety Scale (HAD Scale) Urdu version and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were used for data collection.
Results: The number of enrolled patients was 41 with age ranging between 50-70 years with 63.4% males. Results showed that out of 41 patients 7(17.1%) had mild anxiety, 7(17.1%) had severe anxiety while 27(65.9%) were normal. However, out of 41, 5(12.2%) had mild depression, 15(36.6%) had severe depression whereas 21 (51.2%) had no depression. MMSE scoring showed that, 5(12.2%) had mild, 4(9.8%) had moderate and 3 (7.3%) had severe cognitive changes, whereas 29(70.7%) patients had no cognitive changes.
Conclusion: More than one third of the patients (37%) in this study were suffering from anxiety, depression and cognitive changes. Recognition of these problems in patients of chronic renal failure on hemodialysis is of fundamental importance in the management of patients. The quality of life can be improved in such patients with psychiatrist treatment.