Comparison of the Frequency and Severity of Depression Between Patients with Stage 4 and 5 Chronic Kidney Disease with and Without Kidney Transplantation

Aim:Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at an increased risk for depression. In the present study, we aimed to compare the frequency and severity of depression and its’ association with demographical and laboratory parameters between stage 4 and 5 CKD patients with and without kidney transplantation.Methods:The study included stage 4 and stage 5 CKD patients not on dialysis. The patients were separated into two groups. Group 1 was composed of patients with renal transplantation and group 2 was composed of patients without renal transplantation. The prevalence of depression was evaluated using the Beck Depression Inventory.Results:Forty-nine patients were in group 1 and 52 patients in group 2. The mean depression score in group 1 was statistically significantly higher than in group 2 (16±15 vs 13.5±10; p=0.031). We found that depression score was correlated with parathormone levels (p=0.023) and serum ferritin levels (p=0.019). In multivariate linear regression analysis, depression scores were independently associated with parathormone [Exp (B): 0.997 (confidence interval (CI): 0.995-1.0); p=0.023] and ferritin [Exp (B): 0.996 (CI: 0.994-0.998); p=0.01].Conclusion:Higher prevalence of depression in patients with CKD who received renal transplantation is a significant finding. Routine psychiatric evaluation should become a part of follow-up and treatment in both groups.