Acceptance of Antidepressant Treatment by Patients on Hemodialysis and Their Renal Providers.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Depression is common in patients receiving chronic hemodialysis but seems to be ineffectively treated. We investigated the acceptance of antidepressant treatment by patients on chronic hemodialysis and their renal providers. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: As part of a clinical trial of symptom management in patients on chronic hemodialysis conducted from 2009 to 2011, we assessed depression monthly using the Patient Health Questionnaire 9. For depressed patients (Patient Health Questionnaire 9 score ≥10), trained nurses generated treatment recommendations and helped implement therapy if patients and providers accepted the recommendations. We assessed patients' acceptance of recommendations, reasons for refusal, and provider willingness to implement antidepressant therapy. We analyzed data at the level of the monthly assessment. RESULTS: Of 101 patients followed for ≤12 months, 39 met criteria for depression (Patient Health Questionnaire 9 score ≥10 on one or more assessments). These 39 patients had depression on 147 of 373 (39%) monthly assessments. At 103 of these 147 (70%) assessments, patients were receiving antidepressant therapy, and at 51 of 70 (70%) assessments, patients did not accept nurses' recommendations to intensify treatment. At 44 assessments, patients with depression were not receiving antidepressant therapy, and in 40 (91%) instances, they did not accept recommendations to start treatment. The primary reason that patients refused the recommendations was attribution of their depression to an acute event, chronic illness, or dialysis (57%). In 11 of 18 (61%) instances in which patients accepted the recommendation, renal providers were unwilling to provide treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Patients on chronic hemodialysis with depression are frequently not interested in modifying or initiating antidepressant treatment, commonly attributing their depression to a recent acute event, chronic illness, or dialysis. Renal providers are often unwilling to modify or initiate antidepressant therapy. Future efforts to improve depression management will need to address these patient- and provider-level obstacles to providing such care.

Established and Emerging Strategies in the Treatment of Chronic Kidney Disease.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a common condition that has become a significant public health concern. The mainstay therapeutic approach to CKD is based on renin-angiotensin system blockade as well as blood pressure and glycemic control. Despite these interventions, the management of CKD remains suboptimal, with a large proportion of the CKD population progressing to end-stage renal disease. Newer strategies for the treatment of CKD have emerged over the past years focusing on decreasing inflammation and delaying the development of fibrosis. Despite promising results in experimental models and small randomized studies, adequately powered randomized trials are required to evaluate the benefits and risks of these therapies in the CKD population. In this review, we discuss the evidence behind, and gaps in our knowledge of, established therapies as well as newer potential strategies for managing CKD, concentrating on interventions that currently are being evaluated in randomized studies.