Comparison of psychological distress and demand induced by COVID-19 during the lockdown period in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis: a cross-section study in a tertiary hospital

Zi Li; Xiaoxiao Xia; Xiaofang Wu; Xueli Zhou; Zhiyun Zang; Li Pu

Several reasons might lead to higher IES scores and more severe trauma-related stress symptoms in HD patients. Firstly, PD patients could complete the dialysis treatment at home. And our study found that the frequency to hospital was much lower in PD patients. There were 80.1% of PD patients didn't go to the hospital since the outbreak and 30.1% of them chose their family members to take the place of them for purchasing medicine or peritoneal dialysis fluid. On the contrary, every HD patient had to go to the dialysis center. Regular hemodialysis was very important [24] and was the main reason for going out in HD patients (93.4%). Additionally, in order to decrease the spread of COVID-19, the traffic control measures and community restrictions were adopted by the government [25] . Normal people were restricted from going out and medical proofs of dialysis treatment were required in some communities. This might cause some inconvenience for HD patients to go to dialysis centers. As we found out, 94.7% HD patients went to the hospitals at least 3 times a week. Significant higher frequency of going out for dialysis treatment and inconvenient transportation might put great psychological pressures on HD patients.