Efficacy of molnupiravir and sotrovimab in Japanese dialysis patients with COVID-19 in clinical practice during the Omicron (BA.1 and BA.2) pandemic.

Introduction: In the present study, the efficacy of sotrovimab and molnupiravir in dialysis patients with COVID-19 was investigated using a registry of COVID-19 in Japanese dialysis patients.

Methods: Dialysis patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 during the COVID-19 (Omicron BA.1 and BA.

Influence of dialysis-related stigma on health-related indicators in Japanese patients undergoing hemodialysis.

Introduction: Focusing on impacts to health-related indicators in older Japanese patients, this study analyzed both the direct influence of dialysis-related stigma and influences of its intersectionality with other stigmatized characteristics.

Methods: Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey of 7461 outpatients in dialysis facilities. Other stigmatized characteristics include lower income, lower education, disabled activities of daily living, and diabetic end-stage renal disease (ESRD) as a cause for starting dialysis treatment.

T-Cell Response and Antibody Production Induced by the COVID-19 Booster Vaccine in Japanese Chronic Kidney Disease Patients Treated with Hemodialysis.

Humoral and cellular responses are critical in understanding immune responses to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination. Here, we evaluated these responses in hemodialysis (HD) patients after the booster vaccination. SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin (IgG) levels, neutralizing antibody titers, and the T-SPOT.

Investigation for the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccine in Japanese CKD patients treated with hemodialysis.

Background: Dialysis patients are predisposed to severe disease and have a high mortality rate in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to their comorbidities and immunocompromised conditions. Therefore, dialysis patients should be prioritized for vaccination. This study aimed to examine how long the effects of the vaccine are maintained and what factors affect antibody titers.

Effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines on hemodialysis patients in Japan: A nationwide cohort study.

Introduction: This study compared the outcomes of dialysis patients who received SARS-CoV-2 vaccine with those who did not use data from the Japanese COVID-19 registry.

Methods: A total of 1260 dialysis patients with confirmed positive SARS-CoV-2 infection was included in this study. Patients were divided into two groups: patients who experienced breakthrough infection and those who were unvaccinated.

Committee report: Questionnaire survey on the treatment of COVID-19 in patients receiving dialysis therapy.

Background: Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who receive dialysis therapy develop more severe disease and have a poorer prognosis than patients who do not. Although various data on the treatment of patients not receiving dialysis therapy have been reported, clinical practice for patients on dialysis is challenging as data is limited. The Infection Control Committee of the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy decided to clarify the status of treatment in COVID-19 patients on dialysis.

Discordance between hemodialysis patients' reports and their physicians' estimates of adherence to dietary restrictions in Japan.

Introduction: This study examined the discordance between hemodialysis patients' reports and their physicians' estimates of dietary restriction adherence and related factors in Japan.

Methods: In a cross-sectional survey of 6644 outpatients, physicians who estimated higher and lower adherence than their patients' self-reported were categorized as overestimation and underestimation in terms of discordance, respectively. Possible factors included clinical indicators, patient characteristics related to negative stereotypes, and health beliefs related to statistical discrimination.

Influences of Financial Strains Over the Life Course Before Initiating Hemodialysis on Health Outcomes Among Older Japanese Patients: A Retrospective Study in Japan.

Purpose: This study analyzed the influence of financial strains over the life course before initiating hemodialysis on the health outcomes of older Japanese patients. This study was limited to financial strains over the life course before initiating hemodialysis to eliminate the influence of financial strains resulting from resignation from paid jobs. We examined which of the four life course models-pathway, latent, social mobility, and accumulation-were appropriate to describe the influences of financial strains over the life course on older patients' health.

Survival and predictive factors in dialysis patients with COVID-19 in Japan: a nationwide cohort study.

Background: The Japanese Association of Dialysis Physicians, the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy, and the Japanese Society of Nephrology jointly established COVID-19 Task Force Committee and began surveying the number of newly infected patients.

Methods: This registry of the COVID-19 Task Force Committee was used to collect data of dialysis patients; a total of 1010 dialysis patients with COVID-19 were included in the analysis. Overall survival of patients was investigated with stratification by age group, complication status, and treatment.

Cognition and Implementation of Disaster Preparedness among Japanese Dialysis Facilities.

Introduction: Few quantitative studies have explored disaster preparedness in dialysis facilities worldwide. This study examined the levels of disaster preparedness and their related factors in dialysis facilities in Japan.

Methods: We conducted a mail survey using a self-administered questionnaire for key persons responsible for disaster preparedness in dialysis facilities ( = 904) associated with the Japanese Association of Dialysis Physicians.

COVID-19 of dialysis patients in Japan: Current status and guidance on preventive measures.

In Japan, the first case of COVID-19 in dialysis patients was reported on March 1, 2020. A total of 31 cases were reported by April 10, and it increased to 95 by May 15. Thereafter, with the rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the general population since late March, there was a not surprising increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in dialysis patients.

Caregiving for Older Adults Requiring Hemodialysis: A Comparison Study.

This study examined differences in caregiving appraisal between primary family caregivers of disabled older adults receiving hemodialysis (PFCGs-wHD) and disabled older adults not receiving dialysis (PFCGs-woD). A total of 242 PFCGs-wHD and 335 PFCGs-woD were included in the analyses. We used adjustment by propensity score to control for bias by confounding factors.

Psychosocial Mediators between Socioeconomic Status and Dietary Restrictions among Patients Receiving Hemodialysis in Japan.

The generalizability of differences in dietary restrictions (DRs) as function of socioeconomic status (SES) and the pathways of the associations between SES and DRs remain unclear. Therefore, we aimed to explore SES differences in DRs and psychosocial mediators between SES and DRs in Japanese patients receiving hemodialysis. This study was a cross-sectional survey of 6,644 outpatients (average age = 66.

Association of Circulatory Iron Deficiency With an Enlarged Heart in Patients With End-Stage Kidney Disease.

Objectives: High prevalence of iron deficiency (ID) and cardiomyopathy have been observed in patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). Our objective was to clarify associations between ID and cardiac remodeling in patients with ESKD.

Design And Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using 1974 Japanese patients with ESKD at the initiation of maintenance dialysis.

Unmet service needs evaluated by case managers among disabled patients on hemodialysis in Japan.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the levels of unmet needs for home and community-based services (HCBS) evaluated by case managers (CMs) among disabled patients on hemodialysis (DPHD) and to examine factors related to unmet needs. Unmet needs for HCBS were defined as situations in which patients do not use or underuse HCBS despite needing them. Candidates for the factors relating to unmet needs for HCBS included three dimensions: predisposing, enabling, and need factors.

Barriers to Effective Case Management for Disabled Patients on Hemodialysis.

The present study examined the performance level and its related factors on the process of case management for disabled patients on hemodialysis. Case management performance was evaluated at three stages: patient assessment, making a care plan, and monitoring/evaluation. Candidates for targeting the factors relating to performance included four dimensions: nursing care level, physical malfunction, cognitive malfunction, and barriers to service were used as patient factors; the period of case management for the patient and the knowledge of dialysis emerged as case manager factors; work load was included as an organizational factor; and community resources for these services and communication with surrounding persons were included as system factors.

Earthquake Preparedness Among Japanese Hemodialysis Patients in Prefectures Heavily Damaged by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

The purpose of this study was to explore the factors related to earthquake preparedness in Japanese hemodialysis patients. We focused on three aspects of the related factors: health condition factors, social factors, and the experience of disasters. A mail survey of all the members of the Japan Association of Kidney Disease Patients in three Japanese prefectures (N = 4085) was conducted in March, 2013.

Possible prevention of uremic nausea by vitamin D receptor activators in non-dialysis patients with stage 5 chronic kidney disease.

Background: Nausea is a major uremic symptom and a frequent indication for starting dialysis. However, preventive medication for uremic nausea has not yet been identified. Vitamin D receptor activators (VDRAs) may prevent uremic nausea via their pleiotropic actions.

Effects of socioeconomic status on physical and mental health of hemodialysis patients in Japan: differences by age, period, and cohort.

Study Purpose: Whether or not socioeconomic status (SES)-related differences in the health of hemodialysis patients differ by age, period, and birth cohort remains unclear. We examined whether SES-related gaps in physical and mental health change with age, period, and birth cohort for hemodialysis patients.

Methods: Data were obtained from repeated cross-sectional surveys conducted in 1996, 2001, 2006, and 2011, with members of a national patients' association as participants.

Peritoneal Dialysis Registry With 2012 Survey Report.

Since 2009, the peritoneal dialysis (PD) registry survey has been carried out as part of the annual nationwide survey conducted by the Statistical Survey Committee of the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy with the cooperation of the Japanese Society for Peritoneal Dialysis. In this report, the current status of PD patients is presented on the basis of the results of the survey conducted at the end of 2012. The subjects were PD patients who lived in Japan and participated in the 2012 survey.

Possible prevention of dialysis-requiring congestive heart failure by angiotensin-II receptor blockers in non-dialysis Japanese patients with Stage 5 chronic kidney disease.

Background: Preventive medications for dialysis-requiring congestive heart failure (CHF) in non-dialysis Japanese patients with Stage 5 chronic kidney disease (CKD) are unknown. Our aim was to explore which CKD medication was associated with a reduced prevalence of dialysis-requiring CHF in non-dialysis Japanese patients with Stage 5 CKD.

Methods: The present multicenter, retrospective, cross-sectional study examined the association between CKD medications and the prevalence of dialysis-requiring CHF in non-dialysis Japanese patients with Stage 5 CKD.

Association between the Hemoglobin Level and Cardiothoracic Ratio in Patients on Incident Dialysis.

Background/aim: The present study explores associations between hemoglobin (Hb) levels and patients with cardiac enlargement in end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) to help prevent cardiac remodeling during the predialysis phase of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 2,249 patients with ESKD (age, 67 ± 13 years; male, 67%; diabetic kidney disease, 41%) who started hemodialysis (HD) between January 2006 and October 2013 at eight participating hospitals. We examined associations between Hb levels immediately before the first HD session and cardiothoracic ratios (CTRs).