The hospital anxiety and depression scale in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis: internal and test–retest reliability

There is considerable evidence that individuals with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing dialysis experience increased levels of anxiety and depression (Martin & Thompson 1999). A screening tool that can be readily used by nurses to screen ESRD patients for anxiety and depression would be a useful contribution to the nurse therapeutic clinical skills battery. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS; Zigmond & Snaith 1983) offers good potential as a screening tool due to its ease of administration and patient acceptability. The current study assessed the internal reliability and test--retest reliability of the HADS in an ESRD population undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) over two observation points (baseline, six months). The HADS was found to be internally reliable and had good test--retest reliability. The HADS is recommended as a useful assessment tool for the renal nurse in clinical practice to screen ESRD patients undergoing PD for clinically relevant levels of anxiety and depression. c 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved