Psychosocial Factors in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease.

Abstract

This review article is intended to show and understand psychosocial factors in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) including end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on renal replacement therapy. These patients suffered from many psychosocial factors such as depression, sleep disorder, and chronic pain, etc. The prevalence of major depression or a defined psychiatric illness in ESRD patients is not clearly defined, but is roughly estimated between 5% and 50%. Unfortunately many sufferers do not seek treatment, and of those who do, significant numbers are improperly diagnosed or are not appropriately treated. They should be managed by psychiatric medication and interview, because depression could affect medical outcomes in ESRD patients through several mechanisms. Sleep disorders are common in ESRD patients treated with dialysis and are associated with patients' perceptions of quality of life, assessed by diverse measures, as well as depressive mood. Although pain has been considered as a problem for ESRD patients for more than 20 years, few studies exist on this subject. Pain appears to be an undervalued problem for ESRD patients. These psychosocial factors could affect morbidity, mortality and life quality in CKD and ESRD patients. The physicians, especially managing CKD patients, need to consider these factors.