Health Literacy and Anxiety Among Hemodialysis Patients During the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic can cause psychological distress, and hemodialysis patients with chronic kidney disease may be particularly vulnerable. The aim of this study is to investigate anxiety levels among patients undergoing hemodialysis during the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore the relationship between health literacy and anxiety. METHODS: This study recruited 149 hemodialysis patients from two hospitals between July 16th and July 31st, 2021. Patient data were collected using questionnaires on general characteristics, health literacy, generalized anxiety, and coronavirus disease-related anxiety. We used the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) and the Korean version of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) scale to evaluate the anxiety symptoms of the patients. Statistical analyses were performed using descriptive statistics, t-test, Mann–Whitney U-test, one-way ANOVA, Kruskal-Walli’s test and Spearman’s rank correlation. RESULTS: The results showed that health literacy increased with decreasing age and increasing educational level among patients who source health information from the internet and among patients without comorbidities. Patients with comorbidities showed high levels of general anxiety. Patients who search for health information for ≥1 hour had high levels of coronavirus disease-related anxiety. Both CAS and GAD showed a significant negative correlation with the sub-domains of health literacy, except for critical health literacy. CONCLUSION: The results of this study highlight the need for a follow-up study on whether health literacy programs will reduce the anxiety levels of patients undergoing hemodialysis during infectious disease outbreaks. In addition, provision of social support for patients with comorbidity is essential for reducing their anxiety levels during disease outbreaks.