Incidence of Acute Kidney Injury in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients

Abstract

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and associated with worse prognosis. Objective: We aim to assess the incidence of AKI in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted at Merjan Teaching Hospital from May 1 to October 1, 2021. It involved a review of data of 174 hospitalized polymerase chain reaction–confirmed COVID-19 patients from hospital health records. Results: In our hospitalized COVID-19 patients, AKI was found in 14 patients forming 8.05% of the total hospitalized patients. The age of participants with AKI was 62.64 ± 19.08 years; male patients formed the larger proportion (53.45%). More than one-third of the patients (36.21%) had a history of hypertension, and more than one-fifth of the patients had a history of diabetes mellitus (22.99%). History of ischemic heart disease was present in 4.60%, heart failure in 0.57%, asthma in 3.45%, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in 1.15%, cerebrovascular accidents in 1.75%, and lung fibrosis in 1.15%. Patients with AKI had a significantly higher level of blood urea (22.44 ± 11.74); the level of serum creatinine was also significantly higher among patients with AKI (267.57 ± 87.27); significant relationship was observed between the outcome of the patient and the incidence of AKI. Conclusions: The current study showed a higher risk of mortality and morbidity in COVID-19 patients with AKI. Identifying high-risk groups and earlier diagnosis of AKI in COVID-19 patients can improve results in patients and decrease mortality.