A Descriptive study of ESRD patients’experiences on antidepressants.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Depression in haemodialysis patients: A descriptive study of patients’ experiences on antidepressants. (DESPA)
IRAS ID
150323
Contact name
Nikolaos Efstathiou
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmingham
Research summary
Depression has been recognized as a thwarting co-morbid state in a variety of medical conditions, including end-stage renal disease (ESRD).Depression affects 15- 20% of ESRD patients and there is anecdotal indication that patients are depressed even while on anti depressant pharmaceutical treatment. The purpose of this research is to explore depressed haemodialysis patients' experiences on living with antidepressants and how effective they feel they are. The research is going to be conducted in two phases. Phase one will adopt a quantitative approach by exploring how effective anti depressants are on haemodialysis patients. Questionnaires such as Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) and Kidney Disease and Quality of Life Questionnaire will be used to explore the effectiveness of anti depressants on this specific group of patients. It is expected that 150 haemodialysis patients will be recruited from various dialysis centers in east of England. Phase two will seek to explore haemodialysis patients' experiences who do not respond to pharmaceutical treatment. Patients identified as depressed in Phase one study will be invited to face to face semi structured interviews to explore their experiences while on pharmaceutical depression treatment and their suggestions to improve care. It is envisaged that 10 patients will be interviewed for Phase two of the research. Strong evidence could be obtained by this study, which can evaluate the feasibility of conducting a much bigger study with the involvement of a larger cohort.Depression can aggregate other diseases which leads to hospitalization and cause massive expenditure to the NHS. The study might find new evidence which in the future will make changes to the current practice in treating haemodialysis patients with depression. This study is hoping to identify potentially modifiable factors for improving health care and if the prevalence of depression can be decelerated, it then reflects on reduced hospitalization and diminish mortality.
REC name
South Central - Hampshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/SC/1210
Date of REC Opinion
3 Oct 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion