Depression, anxiety and quality of life of hemodialysis patients before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: To investigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on mental health in hemodialysis patients, we assessed depression, anxiety and quality of life with valid mental health measures before and after the start of the pandemic.

Methods: Data were used from 121 hemodialysis patients from the ongoing prospective multicenter DIVERS-II study. COVID-19 related stress was measured with the Perceived Stress Scale - 10, depression with the Beck Depression Inventory - second edition (BDI-II)), anxiety with the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and quality of life with the Short Form - 12 (SF-12). Scores during the first and second COVID-19 wave in the Netherlands were compared to data prior to the pandemic with linear mixed models.

Results: No significant differences were found in BDI-II, BAI and SF-12 scores between before and during the pandemic. During the first wave, 33% of participants reported COVID-19 related stress and in the second wave 37%. These patients had higher stress levels (mean difference (MD) 4.7 (95%CI 1.5; 8.0), p = 0.005) and BDI-II scores (MD 4.9 (95%CI 0.7; 9.0), p = 0.021) and lower SF-12 mental component summary scores (MD -5.3 (95%CI -9.0, -1.6), p = 0.006) than patients who did not experienced COVID-19 stress. These differences were already present before the pandemic.

Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic does not seem to influence mental health in hemodialysis patients. However, a substantial subgroup of patients with pre-existent mental health problems may be more susceptible to experience COVID-19 related stress.