Researchers aimed to investigate whether fatigue and poor sleep quality mediate the relationship between depression and renal function in patients with nondialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD-ND). The cross-sectional study involved 242 participants from a medical center in Central Taiwan, with an average age of 70.5 years. Data were collected using various scales for emotional support, fatigue, depression, and sleep quality, along with medical records for estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Structural equation modeling and bootstrapping methods were employed to analyze the relationships and mediation effects.

The results showed that 39% of participants exhibited depressive symptoms, 91% experienced sleep disturbances, and the average eGFR was 25.45 mL/min/1.73 m². Significant correlations were found between depression, fatigue, sleep quality, and renal function. Mediation analysis revealed that fatigue and sleep quality significantly mediated the association between depression and renal function, with indirect effect sizes indicating that these factors play a role in the relationship. The findings suggest that addressing fatigue and sleep quality could potentially mitigate the impact of depression on renal function in patients with CKD-ND.

Reference: Ho YF, Hsu PT, Yang KL. The mediating effect of sleep quality and fatigue between depression and renal function in nondialysis chronic kidney disease: a cross-sectional study. BMC Nephrol. 2022;23(1):126. doi: 10.1186/s12882-022-02757-z.