Lower prevalence of depression in hemodialysis patients who use polysulfone dialyzers

Depression is common in dialysis patients and is also associated with the presence of chronic inflammation. Dialysis patients who use polysulfone dialyzers are less likely to have inflammation. It is unknown whether the use of polysulfone dialyzers is associated with lower prevalence of depression.

The aim of this cross-sectional study is to examine the association between the use of polysulfone dialyzers and depression in dialysis patients. This association was examined by use of univariate and multivariate analysis.

Depression affected 35% of our hemodialysis patients. Compared with nondepressed patients, depressed patients were more likely to be male, thinner (lower body mass index), and have more comorbidities. Depression was also associated with the use of cellulose derivative dialyzers (p = 0.008). In multivariate analysis with stepwise regression, gender, albumin, number of comorbidities, and BMI lost their significance. However, the use of polysulfone dialyzers remained correlated with a lower prevalence of depression (odds ratio 0.063, 95% confidence interval 0.01-0.43; p = 0.005). This indicates that the type of dialyzer is independently associated with depression in these hemodialysis patients.

The prevalence of depression was lower in patients using polysulfone dialyzers than cellulose derivative dialyzers. Using more biocompatible dialyzers appears to be associated with better mental health in hemodialysis patients.