PREreview of Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Considering Shared Chairs in Outpatient Dialysis: A Real-World Case-Control Study

Rapid Review of "Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Considering Shared Chairs in Outpatient Dialysis: A Real-World Case-Control Study"

By Margarita Orlova Student Reviewer, Rapid Reviews: COVID-19

Main Claim & Relevance: Evaluated the rate of SARS-CoV-2 transmission among 170,234 hemodialysis patients focusing on patient-to-patient transmission through shared chairs. Data between February 1st and June 8th, 2020 was used to match 2,379 SARS-CoV-2 positive cases to 2,379 non-SARS-CoV-2 controls through a 14 day traceback. The study concluded that transmission risk was low and not significantly different between the cases and controls.

Are the findings strong, reliable, potentially informative, not informative, or misleading? Why? The findings seem reliable, as it was mentioned that the results were consistent in both adjusted and sensitivity analysis. The manuscript also went over potential limitations such as the errors that come with the use of real-world data and that only vertical transmission was considered in the study.

How might these ideas presented by the main claims further knowledge of the COVID-19 pandemic?

The ideas and claims presented help assess the chance of indirect patient-to-patient transmission through surfaces. While this study specifically analyzes the transmission risks involved in hemodialysis, its data can be extrapolated into other medical services and settings.