Abstract
BACKGROUND: It is known that patients receiving renal replacement therapy (RRT) are at a risk for severe COVID-19. This study was the first to evaluate the epidemiology of COVID-19 in patients receiving RRT in the Russian Federation in 2020. METHODS: The research method was an Internet survey conducted among the main nephrologists of the subjects of the Russian Federation. Data were obtained from 82 out of 85 subjects of the Russian Federation. We evaluated the numerical changes in the population of patients treated with RRT from 01.01.2020 to 01.01.2021; the number of patients diagnosed COVID-19; total mortality and the proportion of deaths associated with COVID-19. The COVID-19 was diagnosed by a positive polymerase chain reaction, supplemented by lung CT results. RESULTS: The prevalence of COVID-19 among all 72,734 patients who were receiving different types of RRT was 13,585 (18.7%), which is significantly (p < 0.05) higher than the average in the Russian Federation. The prevalence of infection among patients with peritoneal dialysis (PD) and kidney transplantation (KT) was lower (12.6% and 11.6%, respectively) than among patients with hemodialysis (HD) (20.5%). This can be attributed to the self-isolation of patients with PD and KT, in contrast to patients on HD, which, on the contrary, increased the frequency of contacts between patients and medical staff. Among all patients observed during 2020, the average mortality rate was 22.1%, exceeding by 7.8% the average level of this indicator in 2018 (14.2%). Of these 22.1%, most (17.4%) were non-COVID-19-related deaths, and about 4.6% were COVID-19-related deaths. Among the 13,585 patients on RRT with COVID-19, the annual mortality rate was 24.4%. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of COVID-19 and mortality rates among patients on RRT are higher than in the general population of the Russian Federation. KEY MESSAGES: In the Russian Federation patients receiving RRT are at a high risk of severe COVID-19. Mortality rates of COVID-19 are higher in patients receiving RRT than in general population of the Russian Federation.