RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Depression is the most common psychiatric disorder in chronic hemodialysis patients and is associated with mortality. AIM: To evaluate the prevalence of the depression in patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis, and to identify the correlated factors. METHODS: The study population included 106 patients on chronic hemodialysis. The Hospital-Anxiety and Depression Scale was used to diagnosis depression. RESULTS: The prevalence of the depression among the patients surveyed was 46.2%. Among 8 factors correlated with the depression at the univariate analysis, only 2 factors were still strongly correlated at the multivariate analysis: professional inactivity (OR = 6.54; p = 0.01) and anxiety (OR = 1.,5; p = 0.00). CONCLUSION: According to our study, professional inactivity and/or anxiety should make looking for depression in order to optimize the management of the patients on chronic hemodialysis.