General hospital psychiatry
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Gen Hosp Psychiatry · Jul 2020
Observational StudyGeneral distress and symptoms of anxiety and depression: A factor analysis in two cohorts of dialysis patients.
Depression and anxiety often coexist in patients with end-stage-kidney disease. Recently, studies showed that a composite 'general distress score' which combines depression and anxiety symptoms provides a good fit in dialysis and oncology patients. We aim to investigate if the three most frequently used self-report questionnaires to measure depression and anxiety in dialysis patients are sufficiently unidimensional to warrant the use of such a general distress score in two cohorts of dialysis patients. ⋯ This data shows that the BDI/BAI and HADS are insufficiently unidimensional to warrant the use of a general distress score in dialysis patients without also investigating anxiety and depression separately. Future research is needed whether the use of a general distress score might be beneficial to identify patients in need of additional (psychological) support.