Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Virol. Sep 25, 2022; 11(5): 352-361
Published online Sep 25, 2022. doi: 10.5501/wjv.v11.i5.352
Mortality rate of COVID-19 infection in end stage kidney disease patients on maintenance hemodialysis: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Ivan Cancarevic, Mahmoud Nassar, Ahmed Daoud, Hatem Ali, Nso Nso, Angelica Sanchez, Avish Parikh, Asma Ul Hosna, Bhavana Devanabanda, Nazakat Ahmed, Karim M Soliman
Ivan Cancarevic, Mahmoud Nassar, Nso Nso, Avish Parikh, Asma Ul Hosna, Bhavana Devanabanda, Nazakat Ahmed, Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (NYC Health and Hospitals: Queens), New York, NY 11432, United States
Ahmed Daoud, Department of Medicine, Kasr Alainy Medical School, Cairo University, Cairo 11562, Egypt
Hatem Ali, Department of Medicine, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry CV2 2DX, United Kingdom
Angelica Sanchez, Department of Medicine, Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domnigo, Santo Domingo 10105, Dominican Republic
Karim M Soliman, Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, United States
Author contributions: All authors shared in preparing, writing and reviewing the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Karim M Soliman, MD, MSc, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, 97 Jonathan Lucas St., Charleston, SC 29425, United States. drkarimsoliman@gmail.com
Received: February 1, 2022
Peer-review started: February 1, 2022
First decision: April 8, 2022
Revised: May 20, 2022
Accepted: July 25, 2022
Article in press: July 25, 2022
Published online: September 25, 2022
Processing time: 234 Days and 11.8 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been the most talked-about disease of the past few years. Patients with significant comorbidities have been at particular risk of adverse outcomes. We looked at the outcomes and risk factors for adverse outcomes among patients on chronic hemodialysis.

Research motivation

The authors assess outcomes and risk factors for adverse outcomes of COVID-19 infection among patients on chronic hemodialysis.

Research objectives

The objective of this study is to assess outcomes and risk factors for adverse outcomes of COVID-19 infection among patients on chronic hemodialysis.

Research methods

The authors searched PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, Reference Citation Analysis (https://www.referencecitationanalysis.com/) and Web of Science databases for relevant terms and imported the results into the Covidence platform. From there, studies were assessed in two stages for relevance and quality, and data from studies that satisfied all the requirements were extracted into a spreadsheet. The data was then analyzed descriptively and statistically.

Research results

Of the 920 studies identified through the initial database search, only 17 were included in the final analysis. The studies included in the analysis were mostly carried out during the first wave. The authors found that COVID-19 incidence among patients on hemodialysis was significant, over 10% in some studies. Those who developed COVID-19 infection were most likely going to be hospitalized, and over 1 in 5 died from the infection. ICU admission rate was lower than the infection lethality rate. Biochemical abnormalities and dyspnea were generally reported to be associated with adverse outcomes.

Research conclusions

This systematic review confirms that patients on chronic hemodialysis are very high-risk individuals for COVID-19 infections, and a significant proportion was infected during the first wave. Their prognosis is overall much worse than in the general population, and every effort needs to be made to decrease their exposure.

Research perspectives

Further research can be done to assess the efficacy of protective measures and vaccines against COVID-19 among dialysis patients.