Depression, anxiety, and their association with sociodemographic factors in patients undergoing haemodialysis: a cross-sectional study

Background: Patients suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD) and undergoing haemodialysis (HD) have frequent psychological complications related to depression and anxiety. These symptoms are often overlooked and left untreated. Aim: Our study aims to study depression and anxiety in patients suffering from CKD and HD, and to study the sociodemographic factors associated with depression and anxiety in these patients. Materials and methods: This is a cross-sectional and hospital-based study. The sample of the study comprised of 60 patients suffering from CKD and undergoing HD. The tenth revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) criteria was used to diagnose depression and anxiety in these patients. They were administered the Hamilton rating scale for depression (HAM-D) and the Hamilton rating scale for anxiety (HAM-A) to assess the severity of their symptoms. Chi-square test was used for testing association between the variables. Statistical significance was assigned to all the p-values <0.05. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20.0 was used to analyse data. Results: Thirty per cent patients of CKD and undergoing HD were suffering from depression. 33.3% patients were suffering from anxiety. Age and gender had no significance in relation to depression. There was a significant association between marital status, education, and occupation with HAM-D scoring. Gender had no significance in relation with anxiety. There was a significant association between age, marital status, education, and occupation with HAM-A scoring. Conclusion: Patients suffering from CKD and undergoing HD had high occurrence of depression and anxiety. Unmarried patients, patients with lower educational status, and unemployed patients were more likely to be depressed and anxious.