Gaza Dialysis Patients: High Anxiety, Not Home Loss Alone, Went With PTSD Symptoms

TL;DR: In a survey published in 2026 of 383 people on kidney dialysis in Gaza during the war, interviewers asked about home damage, anxiety and post-traumatic stress symptoms.

More than 8 in 10 had at least moderate anxiety and more than half scored in the post-traumatic stress range. Losing a home was only weakly linked to post-traumatic stress, and a statistical model placed that link through higher anxiety. It cannot establish a chain of causes.

Source: PLOS Mental Health (2026) | AbuZarifa, Hamam, Hamam et al.

People whose kidneys have failed need dialysis, usually several sessions a week, to stay alive. In a war, that means reaching a working hospital again and again, whatever else has happened.

A 2026 study in PLOS Mental Health, led by Maha AbuZarifa of Al-Quds University with colleagues in Gaza, Egypt and Italy, looked at the mental toll on dialysis patients in Gaza during the war that began in October 2023.

Who Was Interviewed

Between August and November 2025, interviewers questioned 383 adults during their dialysis sessions at 5 centers in Gaza, including a field hospital run by Doctors Without Borders. About half were women, and more than a third were older than 55.

Each patient answered:

1. A question about their home: not destroyed, partly destroyed (unlivable but standing) or completely destroyed
2. An anxiety questionnaire with 7 items, such as feeling close to panic or having a racing heart without exertion
3. A post-traumatic stress checklist with 20 items, such as unwanted memories, nightmares and feeling constantly on guard

What Patients Had Been Through

Hardship was widespread:

• 37% were living in a displacement camp
• 37% had lost a parent, child, sibling or spouse in the war
• 17% had been injured
• 74% had lost their main source of income

Most patients also had other long-term illnesses, such as high blood pressure (70%) or diabetes (24%).

Did Losing a Home Go With Post-Traumatic Stress?

Only weakly. Patients with more home damage had slightly higher post-traumatic stress scores, but home damage explained very little of the difference between patients.

Anxiety was a different story. Patients with higher anxiety scores had much higher post-traumatic stress scores, a strong link.

Researchers then tested whether the small link between home loss and post-traumatic stress ran through anxiety. Their model suggested it did:

• Home damage → anxiety: a small but statistically clear link
• Anxiety → post-traumatic stress: a strong link
• Home damage → post-traumatic stress, with anxiety accounted for: no clear link left

Together, home damage and anxiety accounted for about 42% of the differences in post-traumatic stress scores, mostly associated with anxiety in that model. Home damage alone accounted for only about 2% of the differences in anxiety.

Limits to Keep in Mind

• One-time survey: Anxiety and post-traumatic stress were measured at the same moment, so the study cannot show which came first.
• Overlapping questions: The anxiety and post-traumatic stress questionnaires share some symptoms, which can make their link look stronger.
• Home loss as 1 question: Home destruction also goes with injury, grief and lost income, which weren't separated out.
• Survivors only: Patients who died, left Gaza or stopped dialysis weren't included.
• Untested cutoff: The post-traumatic stress cutoff came from Western samples and hasn't been checked in Palestinian dialysis patients.

Could Anxiety Care Fit Into Dialysis Sessions?

AbuZarifa and colleagues suggested adding short anxiety-focused support, such as brief talk therapy or relaxation training, to routine dialysis care, since patients already come in several times a week. They noted that no trial has yet tested this for dialysis patients in a war zone, so it would need to be tried on a small scale first.