COVID-19 quarantine in chronic kidney disease patients: A focus on sarcopenia traits

Abstract

COVID-19 quarantine in chronic kidney disease patients: A focus on sarcopenia traits Quarentena da COVID-19 em pacientes com doença renal crônica: Um enfoque nas características de sarcopenia Dear Editor, Recently, the Brazilian Journal of Nephrology (BJN) published a supplementary issue regarding the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) impact on clinical nephrology routine, with a special focus on people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) 1. We congratulate the BJN for the initiative, as it will have a high impact on COVID-19 management for nephrology professionals. Nonetheless, we would like to call attention to a negligence about the COVID-19 quarantine impact on physical function and musculoskeletal health, which has not been introduced and discussed by the BJN. People with CKD usually have high levels of sedentary behavior, which increases across the stages of the disease. Wilkinson et al. observed that walking is the most popular form of physical activity of people with CKD 2 , so greater sedentary behavior is expected as a consequence of COVID-19 quarantine. Hence, losses in muscle mass and strength are also expected, which is known to negatively affect physical function in this population 3. Moreover, Cheval et al. found that an increase in sedentary behavior during COVID-19 quarantine was associated with poorer physical health, mental health, and subjective vitality in general subjects 4 .

Risk of sarcopenia, fear of COVID-19, anxiety, depression and physical activity levels: Associations across patients on hemodialysis within Greece

“…In addition, patients on hemodialysis affected by SARS-CoV-2 may be at high risk for musculoskeletal health impairments, such as sarcopenia 11 . The new coronavirus (COVID 19) infection, which has started in the Wuhan region of China in 2019, has become a pandemic 12 and large numbers of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients, are more vulnerable to COVID 19 complications 13 due to the several comorbidities (from their disease), and their impaired immune response.…”

Recognizing the importance of physical activity on sarcopenia in chronic kidney disease

“…We read with interest the article by Dubey et al [ 1 ] which discussed the prevalence and determinants of sarcopenia in 188 Indian pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. Sarcopenia is an important clinical problem, which has likely been compounded further by COVID-19 restrictions [ 2 ]. Although we do commend the authors for their original investigation in an under-represented population, we have several observations on their interpretations.…”