Background: End-stage kidney or renal disease (ESRD) is often termed the last stage of chronic kidney dysfunction where in the kidneys are no longer in a position to function good enough to meet the needs of daily life. The usual treatments for ESRD are dialysis or kidney transplant. These patients are prone for various psychological stressors leading to various psychiatric illnesses. Present study was planned to find the psychiatric morbidity and the type of morbidity in patients with ESRD undergoing haemodialysis (HD). Methods: A total of 40 consecutive patients diagnosed as having ESRD in dialysis unit of S.N. Medical College and HSK Hospital Research Centre, Bagalkot were evaluated using M.I.N.I. PLUS. Fischer’s exact and Chisquare tests were used to check the association between two variables. Statistical analysis was done to get the results. Results: 42.5% of patients with ESRD had psychiatric morbidity where major depressive episode and dysthymia constituted 32.5% and 10% of the sample respectively. Study participants were in the age group of 18 to 65 years, 70% were males and 30% were females. Post haemodialysis complication of infection was most common in 55% cases. But, none of the results were statistically significant. Conclusion: Majority of ESRD patients do have some psychiatric morbidity commonest being major depressive disorder followed dysthymia. A multidisciplinary approach is essential necessary which will definitely improve prognosis of these unfortunate patients.

Keywords: End-Stage Renal Disease; Chronic Kidney Disease; Haemodialysis; Depression.