Mental Health Disorders: An Overlooked Aspect of Chronic Kidney Disease in Older Adults

There is a growing recognition that chronic kidney disease (CKD) and mental health disorders (MHD) share a complicated relationship with aging. In senescence, there is an overlapping milieu between a declining glomerular filtration rate and neurovascular changes that predisposes to the development of psychiatric conditions that can, in turn, leads to worsened kidney outcomes. This article explores the risk factors for the development of frequently-encountered MHD such as depression and anxiety in the setting of CKD and the elderly. In addition, the authors cite challenges of their screening and diagnosis and offer guidance to first-line therapeutics in management.