Prevalence Of Anxiety and Depression In Hemodialysis Patients

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is defined by the presence of kidney damage for more than 3 months, originating from various etiologies. A substantial proportion of patients with CKD will eventually progress to having he end-stage renal disease, necessitating treatment with renal replacement therapy (RRT) (Bikbov et al., 2020). End-stage renal disease patients (ESRD) are increasing in number worldwide every year, and in parallel; the number of hemodialysis (HD) patients is increasing as well (El Nahas& Bello, 2005). The impact of HD therapy is expensive, invasive, and time consuming that requires multidisciplinary and comprehensive care for the patients as well as their families. This set of factors adversely affects the lives of patients, both physically and psychologically (Chilcot et al., 2008).

Psychiatric illnesses in patients with ESRD has persistently intrigued healthcare workers due to its effect on the morbidity and healthcare costs in patients with ESRD. The term psycho-nephrology refers to psychiatric problems of people suffering from kidney disease, particularly those with kidney failure who undergo maintenance dialysis or transplantation (Kamel et al., 2022).

Depression and anxiety are considered to be the most common end-stage renal disease-related psychological disorders, with higher prevalence and incidence rates in this population than those in the general population (Feroze et al., 2012; Palmer et al., 2013). According to the World Health Organization, the estimated global prevalence rates of depression and anxiety in 2015 were 4.4% and 3.6%, respectively, with an increase in reported cases of 18% between 2005 and 2015 (Depression, W. H. O., 2017).