The Relationship between Burden and Depression in Spouses of Chronic Kidney Disease Patients

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the burden and depression in spouses of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The interrelation between burden and depression in family caregivers has been pointed out by previous researches in several chronic diseases and researchers agree that they clearly go together and one cannot talk about one without considering the other. More particularly, in the present study, the caregiver burden, the depression, anxiety, and also health-related quality of life and demographic factors of spouses of patients with CKD were examined, using self-report questionnaires. Participants were 50 spouses of patients with CKD, 29 of whom were dialysis dependent and 21 were not dialysis dependent. Group differences were examined for participants. Results confirm the interrelation between caregiver burden and depression in spouses. The increased perceived burden related to higher levels of depression. Low levels of caregiver burden, depression, anxiety, and satisfactory quality of life were found in spouses, with no differences between them relevant to whether the patients were dialysis dependent or not. All the above parameters interrelated. Implications for the findings and future research directions are discussed.