Anxiety and Depression Among the Caregivers of the Haemodialysis Patients and Patient Factors: A Multicentre Study in Bangladesh

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted in the dialysis units of three tertiary-level hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh, between January and December of 2023, to evaluate the levels of anxiety and depression among the caregivers of the haemodialysis patients and patient factors relating to the phenomena. The study was carried out in the National Institute of Kidney Diseases and Urology (NIKDU), Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital. The study population comprised unpaid, primary family caregivers of patients who were under admission in those hospitals for maintenance haemodialysis. A purposive sampling technique was employed. A total of 310 caregivers participated in this study. Data was collected through face-toface interviews using a pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire. The Bengali version of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), a validated 14-item scale with two sub-scales (7 for anxiety and 7 for depression) was used for screening. This scale consists of questions with a four point Likert scale ranging from 0–3. The raw scores for each subscale were summed as total scores between 0 and 21 and graded as 0–7 (normal), 8–11 (borderline) and 12–21 (abnormal). The prevalence of psychological distress among caregivers was notably high. The majority (73.9%) of caregivers were found within abnormal range of anxiety, while 20.3% were at the borderline and only 5.8% were within the normal range. Similarly, 62.9% of caregivers had abnormal levels of depression, 29.7% were at borderline, and only 7.4% were within the normal range. However, levels of anxiety among caregivers were not associated with patients’ duration of illness, duration and frequency of haemodialysis and treatment cost (p>0.05). Similarly, levels of depression among caregivers were not associated with patients’ duration of illness, duration of haemodialysis and treatment cost (p>0.05). However, association was only observed between frequency of haemodialysis (per week) and levels of depression among caregivers (p<0.05).

International Journal of Human and Health Sciences Vol. 10 No. 02 Apr’26 Page: 109-115