The Psychological Impact of Hemodialysis on Patients with Chronic Renal Failure

The prevalence of anxiety and depression among end-stage renal disease patients on hemodialysis in Saudi Arabia

“…25 However, there is agreement that the prevalence of depression in HD patients is higher than in the general population. 25 The prevalence of depression in our data was lower than in other studies, which have reported depression prevalence among ESRD patients ranging from 25.3% to 60.5% 25 with different scales used across different populations. We think the difference is due to cultural background and/or social barriers as many patients consider it unacceptable socially to visit a psychiatric clinic.…”

“…It was also higher than the National Co-morbidity Survey (18%). 25 A recent study in Singapore administered HADS at community-based dialysis centers and found that depression and anxiety prevalences among HD patients were 28% and 32%, respectively. 10 These findings are consistent with this study, which found that the prevalence of anxiety is higher than depression in HD patients.…”

“…Wang et al found prevalence rates to be 26.5% for phobias and 26.6% for panic disorder. 25 Investigating different types of anxiety, as well as risk factors, might help in developing interventions. Future studies should also investigate appropriate screening tools for anxiety, as some studies have questioned the effectiveness of HADS in screening for anxiety disorders.…”

“…Based on previous studies, 2,[8][9][10]12,13,15,16,18,20,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41] we assumed the existence of a 20% difference in the prevalence of depression between the general population and ESRD patients on HD. In order to obtain a confidence level (power) of 95% and a confidence limit of 10%, we aimed to study 246 patients (calculated using the QuesGen Systems sample size calculator).…”

“…24 Anxiety is commonly observed among HD patients. 25 However, despite the growing concern regarding depression in this population, screening for anxiety has received little attention.…”