Cross-sectional assessment of psychiatric disorders in renal transplantation patients in Turkey: A preliminary study

Background. Psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety may be seen after a successful renal transplantation (RTx). The aim of this cross-sectional study was the assessment of psychiatric disorders after RTx in Turkey. The value of self-report scales in predicting depression and anxiety was also assessed. Patients and methods. The study group consisted of 20 male and 20 female RTx patients (mean age 35.42 +/- 10.09 years), with a mean duration of 61.65 +/- 48.30 months of follow-up after transplantation. All patients were assessed with the validated Turkish versions of Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV (SCID-I), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Hospital Anxiety Depression Scales (HADS), Spielberger Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-I), and Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS). Results. Twenty of the 40 patients warranted a DSM-IV psychiatric diagnosis with SCID-I evaluation. Major depression was observed in 25% of patients. The remaining diagnoses were within the affective and/or anxiety spectrum disorders. The set of age, gender, education, income, marital status, employment, type of transplantation, duration of illness, and duration after the transplantation was not significantly different between patients with or without psychiatric diagnoses. BDI, HADS, STAI-I, and BHS were significantly higher among patients with psychiatric diagnoses at P =.001 level using Student t test. Even after control of the variance explained by the set of demographic variables, hierarchical regression analysis revealed that HADS scores significantly predicted the psychiatric morbidity (P =.003). Conclusion. The frequency of psychiatric disorders is quite high in renal transplantation patients. Additionally, HADS, which significantly predicts depression and anxiety, may be used for screening purposes.