Outcomes Worse With Acute Kidney Injury During Hospitalization

TUESDAY, May 2, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Acute kidney injury (AKI) during hospitalization is associated with an increased risk for 90- and 365-day all-cause rehospitalization and death, according to a study published online April 27 in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.

Ivonne H. Schulman, M.D., from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study involving patients hospitalized with and without an AKI discharge diagnosis between January 2007 and September 2020 (471,176 patients hospitalized with and 471,176 without AKI). Rehospitalization and death incidences were estimated after propensity score matching.

The researchers found that compared with no AKI, AKI was associated with higher rates of rehospitalization for any cause, end-stage renal disease, heart failure, sepsis, pneumonia, myocardial infarction, and volume depletion at 90 days after discharge (hazard ratios, 1.62, 6.21, 2.81, 2.62, 1.47, 1.48, and 1.64, respectively); at 365 days, findings were similar. The rate of mortality was higher in the AKI group versus no-AKI group at 90 and 365 days (hazard ratios, 2.66 and 2.11, respectively). When participants were stratified by chronic kidney disease status, the higher risk for outcomes persisted.

"We hope this study leads to a growing awareness about the dramatic increased adverse risks after a hospitalization with AKI -- outcomes that could substantially affect health," Schulman said in a statement.

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