The Effect of Depression and Perceived Social Support Systems on Quality of Life in Dialysis Patients

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to find the effect of depression and perceived social support systems on quality of life in hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients.

MATERIAL and METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional study that was conducted between June and September 2016 on 122 hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients at the Erciyes University Health Application and Research Center and a private dialysis center. The patient information form, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and WHOQOL-BREF were used as data collection tools.

RESULTS: Patients got the highest scores in the environmental field in WHOQOL-BREF, and the family support sub-dimension was the highest in MSPSS. Patients who were illiterate and literate had statistically significantly lower mean scores in the mental field and environmental field when compared with the other education levels. There was a negative correlation between the age and physical and mental fields, peritoneal dialysis duration and social field, peritoneal dialysis treatment time per day and mental field. MSPSS total score and mental, social, and environmental fields had a statistically significant positive correlation (p<0.05). BDI and WHOQOL-BREF life quality sub-scale scores had a statistically significant negative correlation.

CONCLUSION: Depression has a negative effect on the quality of life of dialysis patients, whereas social support systems have positive effect.