Depression and Kidney Transplantation

While kidney transplantation offers several advantages in terms of improved clinical outcomes and quality of life compared to dialysis modalities, depressive symptoms are still present in approximately 25% of patients, rates comparable to that of the hemodialysis population. Correlates of depressive symptoms include marital status, income, kidney function, history of affective illness, malnutrition, and inflammation. Depressive symptoms are also associated with poor outcomes following kidney transplantation including nonadherence to immunosuppressant medication, graft failure, and all-cause mortality. Efforts to detect and treat depression should be a priority if one is to improve treatment adherence, quality of life, and outcomes in transplant recipients.