DEPRESSION;

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) in pregnant women is commonly seen indeveloping countries. It is associated with significant morbidity, social and personal implications.We conducted a study to assess the prevalence and severity of depression in patients withpregnancy related AKI (PRAKI) in a tertiary care center. Methodology: Patients with PRAKIadmitted from 1-16 to 6-16 under Nephrology service, Jinnah Hospital, Lahore were included inthis cross-sectional study. The Hamilton Rating scale for depression (HAM-D) version translatedand adapted in Urdu, was used to assess the study population. These patients were interviewedwith the HAM-D questionnaire on their first encounter with Nephrology department. Previoushistory of psychiatric illness was excluded. The diagnosis of AKI was based on the classificationof the Acute Kidney Injury Network group. Results: The mean age of the patients was 24±5years. Seventeen (57%) patients were multipara and 13(43%) patients were primigravida. Of the30 patients with AKI, 8 (27%) presented before 28 weeks and 22 (63%) presented after 28 weeksof gestation. The causes of AKI included postpartum hemorrhage in 9 (30%), sepsis in 8 (27%),preeclampsia/eclampsia in 6(20%), shock in 4 (13%) and coagulopathy in 3 (10%) patients.Alive and healthy fetus was found in only 15 (50%) patients. Twenty-one (70%) patients receivedaverage of 5-8 hemodialysis sessions during their hospital stay. Twenty-three (76%) had nodepression (0-7 score), 2 (7%) had mild (8-13 score), 3 (10%) had moderate (14-18 score) and2 (7%) had severe (19-22 score) depression according to HAM-D score. Conclusions: Ourstudy depicted considerable depression of varying degrees in women with PRAKI, increasedawareness and effective monitoring for depression should be integrated into regular maternalcare to decrease morbidity associated with it.