Comparison of Health-promoting Behaviors, Anxiety, and Depression Between Hemodialysis Patients and Healthy Controls During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) undergoing hemodialysis experience psychological symptoms due to the stressful process and are likely to engage in fewer health-promoting behaviors. Objectives: This study aimed to compare health-promoting behaviors and psychological distress in hemodialysis patients and healthy individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 139 hemodialysis patients who visited the dialysis unit of Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Iran County and 139 healthy controls between 2020 and 2021. A demographic form, the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS), the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLPII), and the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) were used to collect data. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 22, and a P-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age of the hemodialysis participants was 56.79 ± 13.97, and that of healthy participants was 56.89 ± 13.87 (P = 0.99). The mean score of health-promoting behaviors was significantly lower in hemodialysis patients than in healthy participants (120.53 ± 20.35 vs. 125.92 ± 6.76) (P = 0.005). Furthermore, hospital anxiety-depression (20.49 ± 5.20 vs. 15.28 ± 2.95) and coronavirus anxiety (22.83 ± 7.19 vs. 20.77 ± 4.71) were significantly higher in hemodialysis patients than in healthy participants (P 0.001 and P = 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: Hemodialysis patients exhibited lower health-promoting behaviors and higher coronavirus anxiety and depression than healthy individuals.