Comparison of all renal replacement therapy modalities in terms of COVID-19 infection rate & mortality in the COVID-19 pandemic and importance of home therapies.

Abstract

BackgroundThis study aimed to compare the infection rate and infection‐related mortality among all renal replacement therapies during the COVID‐19 pandemics.MethodsOne thousand three hundred thirty‐six end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) patients who had applied for renal replacement therapy between March 2020 and January 2021 were included in the study. COVID‐19 infection and mortality rates were compared between patient groups.ResultsThe COVID‐19 infection rate in the whole study group was 13.12% (n: 178). The highest infection rate was in the center hemodialysis, 16.33% (n: 139). There was no COVID‐19 infection in home hemodialysis (HHD). Mortality rate was 2.87% (n: 39) in the whole cohort and 3.87% (n: 33) in center hemodialysis (CHD), 1.47% (n:5) in kidney transplant (Tx), and 0.81% (n: 1) in the peritoneal dialysis (PD) group. COVID‐19 infection rate of home replacement therapy (HRT) (n: 39) patients was significantly lower than CHD (n: 139) (p < 0.001).ConclusionThe COVID‐19 infection rate and mortality were significantly lower than those of CHD in all home‐based modalities subgroups.