Psychological correlates of survival on renal dialysis

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory was administered to 47 male patients on the Renal Dialysis Unit at the Seattle VA Hospital. The patients were divided into three survival groups for comparison. Group A died within 1 year of initiating dialysis. Group B had been alive on dialysis between 3 and 7 years, while group C had been alive between 7 and 10 years at the time of data analysis. Group A differed significantly from group B on the Hs, D, and Hy scales, and from group C on the F, Hs, D, and Pt scales. Interpretation of the mean MMPI profiles implies that persons in group A are characterized by feelings of helplessness, high levels of depression, anxiety, and preoccupation with somatic difficulties, whereas those in groups B and C tended to be dependent, have mild levels of depression, and have a sense of hopefulness about the future. The authors suggest that psychiatric intervention might increase the longevity of those patients judged to be moderately to severely depressed with somatic preoccupations.