Depressive symptoms are strongly associated with increased mortality rates in dialysis patients and after kidney transplantation but little is known about the association between elevated depressive symptoms with a decline in kidney function as it is one of the risk factors for development of poor kidney function.

To investigate the potential link in adults with normal kidney function as well, a team led by Xianhui Qin, MD (Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, in China) examines information on 4,763 individuals with healthy kidneys when they enrolled in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS)for a median follow-up of 4 years.

The results of study are about to publish in Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology show a significant association between depressive symptoms at the start of the study and rapid decline in kidney function during follow-up as they experience 1.4-times more likely rapid kidney function decline than participants with infrequent depressive symptoms.

‘Depressive symptoms is a risk factor for developing chronic kidney disease.’