Treating Depression, Pain Might Help Dialysis Patients

Treating depression in dialysis patients can help improve outcomes and also reduce treatment cost, a new study suggests.

According to researchers at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and colleagues, symptoms of depression and pain are common in kidney failure patients receiving dialysis. Understanding and treating these symptoms could lower kidney disease treatment cost.

"Patients receiving chronic hemodialysis experience a very high burden of physical and emotional symptoms. While not all symptoms are easily treated, there are effective therapies for depressive symptoms and pain," said Steven Weisbord, MD, from VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System.

The study was based on data from 286 dialysis patients. Participants were given questionnaires that they completed on a monthly basis over a period of up to two years between 2009 and 2011.

Researchers found that pain was reported in 79 percent of monthly assessments and depression in 18 percent. Patients with depression were at a high risk of missing dialysis appointments and were 40 percent more likely to die.

Patients reporting pain were 58 percent more likely to visit emergency department and 22 percent more likely to be hospitalized.

"These findings underscore the need to determine whether the effective treatment of these symptoms, in addition to making patients feel better, can also reduce utilization of healthcare resources and costs and improve patient-centered outcomes," said Dr. Weisbord in a news release.

The study is published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN).

Number of Americans suffering from kidney diseases is on the rise. The 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that nearly a quarter of older American adults had kidney diseases as compared to 18.8 percent in NHANES study conducted in 1988-1994, Medical Daily reported.