en Midwifery Orginal research <strong><em>Background:</em></strong> Considering the increasing prevalence of psychological problems, complications, and consequences of depression in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD), the application of complementary therapies such as meditation counseling is highly important.<br> <strong><em>Objectives: </em></strong>Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of meditation on depression in patients undergoing HD.<br> <strong><em>Methods:</em></strong> This clinical trial was conducted on 57 patients who met the inclusion criteria by the convenience sampling method. The participants were randomly allocated to intervention and control groups. Those in the intervention group attended three 15-20 minute educational practice sessions weekly offered over an eight-week period while the control group received no intervention. A validated questionnaire assessed depressive symptoms at baseline and after 4 and 8 weeks. In addition, the CONSORT statement was adhered to where possible. Finally, t-test, repeated-measures ANOVA, Fisher&rsquo;s exact test, and Chi-square tests were used to analyze data using SPSS 16.<br> <strong><em>Results</em></strong><strong>:</strong> The mean depression score among the patients of the intervention group decreased from 85&plusmn;1.56 at baseline to 70&plusmn;1.27 at 8-week follow-up (P=0.003). Further, the mean score of depressive symptoms significantly decreased during eight weeks after the intervention (P<0.001).<br> <strong><em>Conclusion:</em></strong> Simple and non-expensive meditation exercises could fruitfully decrease depression symptoms in patients undergoing HD. The prevalence of depressive symptoms is high among the patients, therefore, the implementation of meditation exercises should help minimize a major problem in these groups of patients. hemodialysis, depression, end-stage renal disease, meditation 42 49 http://nmcjournal.zums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-62-3&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Kourosh Amini korosh@zums.ac.ir 10031947532846009677 10031947532846009677 Yes zanjan medical sciences university Sahar Dehghani dehghani_3293@yahoo.com 10031947532846009678 10031947532846009678 No zanjan medical sciences university Soudabeh Niroomand 10031947532846009679 10031947532846009679 No Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Masomeh Hasanlo hasanlo_md@zums.ac.ir 10031947532846009680 10031947532846009680 No Department of Operating Room and Anesthesiology Technology, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Daryoush Amini amini_daryoush@yahoo.com 10031947532846009681 10031947532846009681 No Department of Psychology, Assistant Professor, University of Farhangian, Hamedan, Iran Soghrat Faghihzadeh s.faghihzadeh@zums.ac.ir 10031947532846009682 10031947532846009682 No Professor of Biostatistics, Zanjan Social Dept. of Health Research Center, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran