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Pediatric kidney transplant patients at increased risk for psychiatric disorders
According to findings from a study published online in Pediatric Transplantation, teens who received a kidney transplant are at greater risk for some psychiatric disorders. According to the study, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, phobias, and social and educational impairments are all issues that pediatric kidney transplant patients may encounter. Eric Fombonne, M.D., of McGill University and Montreal Children’s Hospital, and colleagues, reported that 65% of children given a transplant were diagnosed with at least one lifetime psychiatric disorder. Only 37.5% of healthy controls were diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. “These dimensions should be routinely screened for in endstage renal disease patients, both before and after transplant, and appropriate steps should be taken when needed,” the researchers said. The following is an excerpt of an article from Medpage Today that reviews the study in more depth:
Patients were divided equally into three groups — 40 had had transplants, 40 who had chronic kidney disease, and 40 who were healthy matched controls.
Psychiatric symptoms and disorders were evaluated through interviews and self-reported questionnaires.
Those in the transplant group had a significantly higher lifetime incidence of DSM-IV diagnoses, with 65% being diagnosed with at least one lifetime psychiatric disorder, compared with 37.5% in the control group (P=0.038).
The lifetime depressive disorder rate in both the transplant group and in the chronic kidney disease group was 35%, compared with 15.2% in the control group (P=0.043).
Transplant adolescent patients also had significantly more mood disorders than the control group, almost twice the frequency of anxiety disorders, and more behavioral disorders, especially ADHD.
About 23% of the transplant group met diagnostic criteria for ADHD, compared with 5% of the chronic kidney disease group and 7.5% of controls. Boys who’d had a transplant had an especially high rate of the disorder, at 31%.
Click here to read the rest of this article from Medpage Today
