Psychological burden in individuals with chronic kidney diseases: A cross sectional study

Abstract

Recent studies underlined the impact that chronic kidney disease (CKD) has on patients' well-being and the need for mental health support. However, literature suggests that psycho-logical support is not often requested by patients, and barriers and prejudices that impede them to access mental health care are not well-known. This study aims to analyse the CKD patient's level of well-being and explore their demand of psychological care, beside possible barri-ers/levers that motivate them to search for psychological support. A cross-sectional study in-volved 361 Italian patients diagnosed with chronic kidney disease was conducted. Patient's health engagement was measured by the Patient Health Engagement Scale (PHE-s); anxiety and depression were assessed by the Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale and Zung Self-rating Depression Scale respectively. Quality of life was measured with an ad hoc item. Demograph-ic characteristics were also collected. Most patients were male (66.9%) and the mean age was of 57 years old. Overall, the 19% of patients reported a low level of health engagement and almost 30% of the sample reported a low level of quality of life. The 61.9% reported depres-sive symptoms and the 11.6% of the respondents referred the presence of anxiety. However, only the 40.5% referred to have thought of asking for a psychological support. Although study participants frequently reported psychological needs, it seems that is difficult for them to translate these needs into an actual psychological demand, due to prejudices against psycholo-gists and the stigma attached to patients undergoing psychological treatment.