Depression and its associated factors in pediatric chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND

Few studies on the occurrence of depression in pediatric patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have been conducted and none have identified associated clinical and demographic factors.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study in which we administered the Child Depression Inventory-2 (CDI-2) to 44 patients aged 9-18 years with CKD stages III-V. Criteria for depression were CDI-2 scores of ≥65 or an established diagnosis of depression recorded in the medical chart. Relative risks (RR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were calculated to determine associations between patient characteristics and depression status.

RESULTS

Of the 44 patients enrolled in the study, 13 (30 %) met our criteria for depression, representing 18 % of patients aged <13 years and 34 % of those aged ≥13 years. Although not reaching statistical significance, the adjusted risk of depression was lower for patients with CKD duration of ≤3 years than for those with longer CKD duration (RR 0.19, 95 % CI 0.02, 1.53), and for those with CKD stage IV (RR 0.23, 95 % CI 0.05, 1.09) and CKD stage V (RR 0.13, 95 % CI 0.01, 1.07) compared to those with CKD stage III.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicate that depression is common in children with CKD, particularly for those with longstanding renal disease and at CKD stage III.