Assessment of sociodemographic determinants of depression among patients on hemodialysis.

.. Objectives: Study aimed to assess the frequency of depression in patients on hemodialysis and to see the effect of sociodemographic variables on depression. Study Design: Cross Sectional study. Setting: Hemodialysis unit of Nishtar Medical University, Multan. Period: July 2018 to December 2018. Material & Methods: After taking ethical approval from Institutional ethical review committee. Total 384 patients with chronic kidney disease between the age range 16-60 years of both genders were included in the study. Patients of mood, psychotic and anxiety disorders before the onset of chronic kidney disease, other chronic disease and any substance abuse were excluded on the basis of history. The demographic data i.e. name, age, sex, locality, education & socioeconomic status and employment status was collected from each patient. In addition to these, duration and frequency of dialysis was also noted. All patients were evaluated by single psychiatrist, using ICD-10 criteria for depression (yes / no). Results: Mean age of the respondents was 49.28 ± 9.64 years in our study. Out of the 384 patients, 235 (61.2%) were male and 149 (38.80%) were females Majority of patients 68.5% belonged to rural area, 86% had monthly family income less than 50,000, 21.6% were unable to read & write and 43.0% were unemployed. Depression was diagnosed in 175 (45.6%) participants and there were 209 (54.4%) patients having no depression. Age (p<0.001), gender (p<0.001), educational level (p<0.001), employment status (p<0.001), and monthly family income was significantly associated with depression in patients on hemodialysis. Conclusion: Study concluded that frequency of depression among patients on hemodialysis was very high and strong association observed between depression and extremes of ages, unemployment, education and poor socioeconomic status.