Sleep Disturbances, Depression and Anxiety in Hemodialysis Patients in COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Objective: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has not only threatened physical health, but has also grown as a burden to public health, economics and mental well-being. Hospital visits for many reasons have decreased. However, some special groups of facilities such as hemodialysis (HD) can not be disrupted. Anxiety and depression are important problems in patients undergoing HD. We aimed to assess symptoms of anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances among HD patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and determine factors associated with psychological distress. Materials and Methods: In this observational, cross-sectional study, HD patients were asked to fill out questionnaire about sociodemographic factors, education level, employment and economic status, and marital status. They were asked about worries regarding the COVID-19 infection, whether they had been infected by COVID-19, admitted to hospital or to the intensive care unit. Each participant was delivered the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), Beck depression inventory, and Beck anxiety inventory. Results: The mean age of 58 patients was 50.9±14.6 (22-76) years; 19 (32.8%) had been infected with COVID-19 and 10 (15.5%) were admitted to the hospital. Fifteen patients had household contacts who had been infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and four patients had household contacts who died. Most (69%) have reported that they were unaffected by the COVID-19 news, while 29% have said that the media increased their worries. Sleep quality was poor (PSQI ≥5) in the majority (n=36, 59%). Having COVID-19 was found to harm the quality of sleep. Poor quality of sleep was seen in 68.4% of COVID-19 survivors, whereas this ratio was 59% in participants who had not been infected by SARS-CoV-2. Conclusion: Sleep quality seems to be negatively influenced by COVID-19.

Keywords

• hemodialysis
• covid-19
• sleep