To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title: Dialysis Patients Diagnosed With Depression More Likely to Be Hospitalised, Die
URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/22C142.htm
Doctor's Guide
September 12, 2008

DALLAS -- September 12, 2008 -- Patients on dialysis diagnosed with depression are nearly twice as likely to be hospitalised or die within a year compared with patients who are not depressed, according to a study in the September 15 issue of Kidney International.

"Twenty percent of patients who start dialysis will die by the end of the first year," said lead author Susan Hedayati, MD, Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Dallas, Texas. "What we don't know yet is, if their depression is treated, could it extend dialysis patients' survival and improve their quality of life."

For the study, the researchers monitored 98 dialysis patients for up to 14 months. More than a quarter of dialysis patients received a psychiatric diagnosis of some form of depression based on a formal psychiatric interview based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV).

Results showed that more than 80% of the depressed patients died or were hospitalised, compared with 43% of patients who were not diagnosed as depressed. Cardiovascular events, which previously have been linked to depression, led to 20% of the hospitalisations.

Dr. Hedayati said depression-like symptoms such as loss of energy, poor appetite, and sleep disturbances are often observed in patients with chronic disease, so it is important to get a scientifically valid diagnosis for clinical depression.

Furthermore, researchers found that a patient on dialysis who also has a comorbidity such as coronary artery disease or diabetes resulted in a 30% greater likelihood of the patient being hospitalised or dying. If the patient had depression, however, the relationship was even stronger, with about a 100% increase in these dire outcomes, Dr. Hedayati said.

"Nephrologists don't have as much data showing that treating anaemia or increasing the dose of dialysis will improve survival, and yet during our routine rounds with dialysis patients we intervene on those issues," said Dr. Hedayati.

"Nephrologists don't usually ask patients about depression. Since depression is so prevalent and can negatively affect dialysis patients, we need to ask about it."

"Now that we know depression in dialysis patients is associated with adverse outcomes such as death and hospitalisation, we need to take another step forward and figure out if treating it will make a difference in patient outcomes," he said.

SOURCE: UT Southwestern Medical Center

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet*
located at http://www.docguide.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Return to News Story Page

This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com
Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs.
All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc.
All rights reserved.