Abstract: Objective To explore the impact of income and education levels on psychological status in patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD). Methods A total of 858 PD patients from 5 centers, treated for more than 3 months between April 1, 2011 and August 31, 2011, and with stable disease condition were enrolled in this study. General information, biochemical parameters, Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), and Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) were collected from the patients. The impact of income and education levels on prevalence of anxiety and depression were analyzed by binary logistic regression. Results The prevalence of anxiety and depression was 15.4% and 58.3%, respectively. Higher educational level was a significant predictor for depression in PD patients (β=1.259, P=0.019). Compared to the patients with elementary school education or lower, the risk of depression increased by 127.8% in patients with high school education or higher after adjustment for age, gender, body mass index, serum albumin, high- sensitive C reactive protein, dialysis age and renal urea clearance (β=2.278, P=0.012). However, there was no significant correlation between income level and prevalence of anxiety and depression (β=1.079, P=0.545). Conclusion Higher education level was an independent risk factor for depression in PD patients.

Key words: Peritoneal dialysis, Education level, Income level, Anxiety, Depression