From April 2000 to April 2001, a total of 108 chronic stable haemodialysed patients (34 males aged 57.76 +/- 12.68 years under haemodialysis treatment for 31.41 +/- 24.71 months and 74 females aged 54.99 +/- 12.87 years under haemodialysis for 41.47 +/- 33.47 months) were studied for signs of clinical depression. Depression was measured by using 'The Taiwanese Depression Questionnaire (TDQ)'. After analysing various possible factors, we chose to study three dimensions: affective change, somatic complaint and cognitive disturbance. Thirty-six (33.4%) of the patients were found to have TDQ scores above 19; our cut-off value. Diabetic patients were also found to have higher depression scores and affective change scores than those without diabetes. The elderly suffered more from somatic complaints, and patients without jobs also tended to have higher depression scores. We compared the nutrition indexes and uraemic toxin removal indexes of those with higher depression scores (score> or =19) with those with normal scores (score <19), and we found no differences between the two groups. We found that an underlying disease and job status were the major differences found in the two groups. Therefore, our findings suggest that the depression found in our chronic haemodialysed patients was not a result of the physical conditions, but a result of psychosocial problems indicating a need for psychosocial support for these patients.

Aim:  This study explored the associations of personal, disease, family, and social factors with quality of life (QoL) in patients with two common types of chronic mental illness (CMI) living in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. Methods:  Using a convenience sample and a cross‐sectional design, 714 patients (50.1% male, 49.9% female) with CMI (72.1% schizophrenia and 27.9% affective disorder) and their caregivers were recruited. Demographic information was collected via the following questionnaires: 12‐Item Short‐Form Health Survey (SF‐12), five‐item Brief Symptom Rating Scale (BSRS‐5), Caregiver Burden Scale, and Clinical Global Impressions (CGI‐S) Scale. Pearson correlations and hierarchical regression analyses were used to predict QoL. Results:  Disease factors accounted for 17–50% of the change in variance. Predictors of low mental subscale scores included the following: high psychological distress and high family burden as well as a history of suicide attempts, negative caregiver attitudes, and living away from home. Disease factors also explained the greatest variance in the physical subscales. Predictors of low physical subscale scores included the following: high psychological distress, age, unemployment, a history of suicide attempts, high family burden, and living alone. Conclusions:  Disease factors were the most important predictors of QoL in patients with CMI. Family factors were more important than social factors on the mental subscales. Differential relationships were also found for the other two dimensions. Together, these results indicate that a wide range of factors improve the QoL in patients with CMI.