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Abstract: FR-PO461

Long-COVID-19 in Hemodialysis Patients: A Prospective Study

Session Information

Category: Dialysis

  • 801 Dialysis: Hemodialysis and Frequent Dialysis

Authors

  • Han, Maggie, Renal Research Institute, New York, New York, United States
  • Wang, Lin-Chun, Renal Research Institute, New York, New York, United States
  • Ren, Sarah, Renal Research Institute, New York, New York, United States
  • Tisdale, Lela, Renal Research Institute, New York, New York, United States
  • Dong, Zijun, Renal Research Institute, New York, New York, United States
  • Nze, Chidiadi Ruth, Renal Research Institute, New York, New York, United States
  • Kotanko, Peter, Renal Research Institute, New York, New York, United States
Background

Long-COVID (LC) is defined as persistent symptoms after COVID-19 infection. It has been reported that up to 40% of COVID-19 survivors experience LC (O’Mahoney et al. The Lancet, 2023). We aim to determine if hemodialysis (HD) patients experience LC.

Methods

HD patients diagnosed with COVID-19 via RT-PCR test were enrolled from 01 to 04 2022 from 4 clinics in New York City. COVID-19 Yorkshire Rehabilitation Scale (C19-YRS) was administered at baseline, i.e. as soon as possible after diagnosis, and 1 and 6 months after baseline. C19-YRS also asks about pre-COVID symptoms; we used that symptom severity (SS) at baseline as comparator. While SS is graded from 0-10, 10 being the worst, global health score (GH) is reported with 10 being the best. Patient data were obtained from medical records. Paired t-tests were used examine differences in SS pre- and post- COVID-19 infection. Linear and generalized mixed models were used to examine the effect of time on continuous and discrete LC SS, respectively.

Results

We studied 16 patients (58±14 years old, HD vintage 2.7±3.4 years, 56% male, 81% Black, 19% Hispanic, no diabetic, 50 % hypertensive). Baseline C19-YRS was administered 43±23 days (range 9-108) after COVID-19 diagnosis. 5 patients were hospitalized. C19-YRS results are shown in Table 1. Compared to baseline, patients experienced significantly increased dyspnea, anxiety, and PTSD at 1 month and fatigue and inability to perform personal care at 6 months. Decreased mobility and activity of daily living were also observed, though not statistically significant. Lastly, patients reported decreased GH score at months 1 and 6 compared to baseline.

Conclusion

Following COVID-19 infection, patients report worsening LC symptoms. Further studies are warranted to investigate the long-term consequences of LC in HD patients.

Funding

  • NIDDK Support – Renal Research Institute