Psychological Distress in Patients Presenting for Initial Renal Transplant Evaluation

The comorbidity of psychological disorders with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) presents challenges for renal transplantation,
including increased likelihood of medication noncompliance and poorer quality of life. Estimates of rates and severity of
affective and anxiety disorders have varied significantly across studies of renal transplant patients, possibly due in part
to variation in the methodology and timing of evaluations. To this point, few researchers have examined the psychological
condition of patients who are newly referred for renal transplantation. This study examined rates of psychological distress
using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) in a sample of 518 ESRD patients at the specific time point of first contact
with the transplant center. In this sample, 15.1% of patients endorsed symptoms consistent with a depressive condition and
7.6% of patients endorsed an anxiety condition. These rates were lower than expected, which may be due to decreased distress
in this sample, selection biases, or underreporting of symptoms due to patients’ motivation to present themselves positively.