Psychiatric and psychosocial status of elderly patients undergoing dialysis

We investigated the psychiatric and psychosocial status of 31 elderly (age > 65 years) end-stage renal disease patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) (17 patients) and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) (14 patients). There was no difference between the two groups in terms of age (67.3 +/- 2.3 and 68.5 +/- 4.3 in HD and CAPD groups, respectively), duration of dialysis treatment, and biochemical profile. The psychiatric and psychosocial status of the patients was assessed using the standardized psychiatric interview (SPI), Hamilton's depression scale (HRS-D), and a questionnaire for the evaluation of the psychosocial impact of the method of treatment. Sixteen of 31 patients presented with psychiatric morbidity (9 mild, 5 moderate, 2 severe). However, there was no significant relationship between psychiatric morbidity and method of dialysis (HD or CAPD). The mean values of SPI (21.47 +/- 16.38 and 17.14 +/- 13) and HRS-D (20.91 +/- 17.33 and 15.41 +/- 13.13) scores for the HD and CAPD groups, respectively, did not differ significantly. The analysis of the results of the questionnaire regarding the impact of the method of treatment on psychosocial status indicated that the HD patients felt that their lives were more dependent on factors that they could not influence (i.e., the dialysis equipment, etc.). Our findings suggest that the psychiatric status of elderly patients undergoing chronic dialysis treatment is not affected by the method of treatment, a factor that should be taken into consideration when deciding the proper dialysis treatment for these patients.