Risk of COVID-19 and Cost Burden in End-Stage Renal Disease Patients and Policy Implications for Managing Nephrology Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of COVID-19 in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, the cost burden of the COVID-19 pandemic on the management of ESRD and the cost of catheter infections. In this multicentre, retrospective study, data were obtained from the records of four dialysis centres providing care for ESRD patients in Northern Cyprus. Of the 358 ESRD patients that were receiving haemodialysis (HD) 13 were diagnosed with COVID-19. The average cost of HD treatment per patient was $4822.65 in 2019 and $3759.45 in 2020 (p ≤ 0.001). The average control cost of HD treatment per patient was $618.80 in 2019 and $474.03 in 2020 (p ≤ 0.001). The outpatient treatment costs of catheter infections were not significantly different in 2019 (before) compared to 2020 (after) the pandemic ($54.61 in 2019 compared to $54.74 in 2020, p = 0.793). However, the inpatient treatment costs were significantly greater before the pandemic compared to after the pandemic ($315.33 in 2019 compared to $121.03 in 2020, p = 0.015). The costs for monitoring COVID-19 transmission in patients having ESRD management were significantly higher in HD compared to in peritoneal dialysis (PD) and transplants. Since there is a high risk of transmission of infections in the hospital environment during a pandemic, it is important to implement alternative ESRD management methods, such as enhancing transplants in populations, switching to PD, and implementing home dialysis programmes to reduce the risk of infection and associated complications, as well as the health costs associated with infection monitoring.