# Psychological distress in adults after pediatric kidney replacement therapy

## TL;DR

This study examines psychological distress in adults who received kidney replacement therapy as children and finds that they generally have good long-term psychological well-being.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into psychological outcomes of adults who underwent pediatric kidney replacement therapy compared to the general population.

## Key findings

- Adults after pediatric KRT showed psychological distress levels similar to the general population.
- Unemployed participants and those using psychotropic drugs reported higher levels of distress and somatization.
- The results suggest favorable psychological outcomes for these patients despite their medical history.

## Abstract

There is limited information about psychological distress in adults who underwent kidney replacement therapy (KRT) during childhood. This study aimed to describe psychological distress in adults after KRT during childhood in comparison to the Swiss general population and to evaluate associations with sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.

We sent a questionnaire to 143 people from the Swiss Pediatric Renal Registry (SPRR), who were alive, over 18 years old, started KRT before the age of 18 years, and were German speakers. We measured psychological distress using the Brief Symptom Inventory 18 (BSI-18) and evaluated the Global Severity Index 18 (GSI-18), reflecting the overall level of distress, and the three subscales: depression, somatization, and anxiety. We compared levels of psychological distress to normal data from the Swiss general population and used regression models to identify associations with sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.

Eighty persons with a mean age of 39 years (SD 10.1) responded to the questionnaire (response rate 56%). Overall, the GSI-18 and all subscales of the BSI-18 were similar. Unemployed participants (25%) reported higher levels of somatization and were more likely to experience psychological distress. Participants using psychotropic drugs (14%) reported higher levels of overall psychological distress (10%), depression (13%) and somatization (9%).

Adults after KRT during childhood showed good long-term psychological well-being. These results are encouraging and underline the favorable outcome of these patients. So besides the excellent somatic outcome, these patients can achieve a psychological healthy life after diagnosis of chronic kidney disease.

A higher resolution version of the Graphical abstract is available as Supplementary information

A higher resolution version of the Graphical abstract is available as Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00467-024-06571-7.