Abstract
Objective This study aimed to explore follow-up mode changes for peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients and their effects on PD quality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A retrospective single-center study was conducted. All patients who received PD treatment at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University between January 2018 and March 2020 were enrolled in this study. Patient data during the first quarter of 2018 (Q1-2018), the first quarter of 2019 (Q1-2019), and the first quarter of 2020 (Q1-2020) were collected. Results No significant differences were observed for any serum examinations in different follow-up periods (P > 0.05). A significantly reduced outpatient follow-up rate was observed in Q1-2020 compared with Q1-2018 and Q1-2019 (71.6% Vs 78.9% Vs 84.7%, P < 0.001), accompanied by a significantly increased remote follow-up rate (28.4% Vs 21.1% Vs 15.3%, P < 0.001). Compared with Q1-2018 and Q1-2019, the hospitalization rate (27.7% Vs 30.9% Vs 15.7%, P < 0.001) and the incidence of peritonitis (0.162 Vs 0.186 Vs 0.08 per patient-year, P < 0.001) decreased significantly in Q1-2020. PD patients had a significant decline in the drop-out rate for Q1-2020 compared with Q1-2019 (4.4% Vs 7.3% Vs 2.2%, P < 0.001). No differences in the incidence of catheter-related infections were observed. No significant differences were observed for any peritoneal dialysis key performance indicators (KPIs) between outpatient follow-up and remote follow-up patients. Conclusion During the COVID-19 pandemic (Q1-2020), our center practiced more remote follow-up procedures in PD patients. The hospitalization rate and peritonitis incidence were significantly decreased compared with the same time in previous years. No statistical differences were observed in other KPIs for peritoneal dialysis. This study shows that telehealth methods are a reasonable alternative to in-person care in the care/management of PD patients.
Highlights
In December 2019, several viral pneumonia cases with unknown etiology were reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. is disease was named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) after deep-sequencing analyses of lower respiratory tract samples indicated the presence of a novel coronavirus [1]
Amidst this national fight against COVID-19, material changes were made to the types of follow-up visits and the lifestyles of patients treated with peritoneal dialysis; at this time, no relevant literature has been reported regarding the impacts of COVID-19 measures on the quality of peritoneal dialysis. erefore, this study was designed to provide a retrospective analysis of the general data, serological indicators, hospitalization rate, drop-out rate, infection-related complications, and other related prognostic factors for eligible patients treated at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University to investigate any changes in the key performance indicators (KPIs) for peritoneal dialysis during the COVID-19 epidemic
All patients with complete follow-up data who received regular peritoneal dialysis at the Peritoneal Dialysis Center of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from January 2018 to March 2020 were enrolled in this study
Summary
In December 2019, several viral pneumonia cases with unknown etiology were reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. is disease was named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) after deep-sequencing analyses of lower respiratory tract samples indicated the presence of a novel coronavirus [1]. Peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients are susceptible to COVID-19, and the infection of COVID-19 worldwide in peritoneal dialysis patients has been mentioned in many available literature [4–6] Amidst this national fight against COVID-19, material changes were made to the types of follow-up visits and the lifestyles of patients treated with peritoneal dialysis; at this time, no relevant literature has been reported regarding the impacts of COVID-19 measures on the quality of peritoneal dialysis. Erefore, this study was designed to provide a retrospective analysis of the general data, serological indicators, hospitalization rate, drop-out rate, infection-related complications, and other related prognostic factors for eligible patients treated at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University to investigate any changes in the key performance indicators (KPIs) for peritoneal dialysis during the COVID-19 epidemic Amidst this national fight against COVID-19, material changes were made to the types of follow-up visits and the lifestyles of patients treated with peritoneal dialysis; at this time, no relevant literature has been reported regarding the impacts of COVID-19 measures on the quality of peritoneal dialysis. erefore, this study was designed to provide a retrospective analysis of the general data, serological indicators, hospitalization rate, drop-out rate, infection-related complications, and other related prognostic factors for eligible patients treated at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University to investigate any changes in the key performance indicators (KPIs) for peritoneal dialysis during the COVID-19 epidemic
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