Objective To investigate the role of 5E rehabilitation program in improving psychological status in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. Methods Thirty-nine patients who had received PD for a minimum duration of 3 months were recruited in this study. Depression was evaluated using Hamilton Depression Rating Scale in the beginning and of the end of this study. 5E rehabilitation intervention including encouragement, education, exercise, employment and evaluation was implemented on patients, and patients were followed up for 6 months in order to observe the changes of depressive symptoms. Results Thirty-nine patients completed this follow-up study. At the end of this study, patients with depressive symptom decreased from 17 cases in the beginning to 9 cases at the end. The prevalence and depression scores in the beginning and at the end of this study are 43.6％vs 23.1%，x2=3.69，(P<0.05）and 6.64±5.01 vs 4.90±4.64, t=2.72,（P<0.05）respectively. Conclusion This study demonstrated that 5E rehabilitation program can improve psychiatric symptoms in peritoneal dialysis patients. Physicians and nurses should pay attention to the rehabilitation treatment.