Assessment of mental health and impact of patient counselling on quality of life of dialysis patients

Chronic renal disease patients undergoing hemodialysis may face several problems that increase their chance of developing psychological suffering as hemodialysis is a time-consuming process. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of psychiatric illness and to evaluate the impact of patient counselling on the quality of life. A total of 135 patients undergoing hemodialysis for more than 3 months were enrolled in the study. Patients who were exposed to hospitalization, recent trauma, or major surgeries, and who were on antipsychotic drugs before onset of renal disease were excluded. The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale was used to assess the prevalence and level of depression, anxiety, and stress in hemodialysis patients. From the study population, 62.9% of patients had depression, 39.2% had stress, and 22.2% had anxiety. The patients with depression, anxiety, and stress had worse scores on all domains of the QoL questionnaire. Depression, anxiety, and stress were negatively correlated with quality of life.