INTRODUCTION: Hopelessness, suicide ideation and depression symptoms affect life quality and expectancy of chronic kidney disease patients.
OBJECTIVE: To verify whether there are differences in hopelessness, suicide ideation and depression symptoms between chronic kidney disease patients on hemodialysis or transplant recipients. We also analyzed the influence of sociodemographic factors in these symptoms.
METHODS: Cross-sectional study in which 50 clinically stable chronic hemodialysis patients and 50 renal transplant patients matched by gender and age. Instruments-Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).
RESULTS: BHS: 2% of each group scoring > 8 (p = 1.00). BSI: 4% in hemodialysis and 6% of the transplant patients scoring > 1 (p = 1.000). BDI: 20% in hemodialysis and 12% of transplant patients scoring > 14 (p = 0.275). Patients who did not have a labor activity presented more depressive symptoms (average BDI score: 10.5 vs. 7.3, p = 0.027). Transplant patients from deceased donor presented more depressive symptoms compared with those with transplant from living donors (average BDI score: 11.0 vs. 6.7, p = 0.042).
CONCLUSION: There was no difference in the intensity of hopelessness, suicide ideation and depression symptoms between stable hemodialysis and transplant patients. Not performing a labor activity and receiving the transplant from deceased donor lead to more depressive symptoms. The high prevalence of depressive symptoms and the finding of suicide ideation in both modalities of renal replacement therapy point to the need to monitor and care for those patients.