Prevalence and associated factors for kidney dysfunction in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia in Zambia

Background: A significant link has been reported between COVID-19 pneumonia, disease severity and development of kidney dysfunction. This study assessed the prevalence and correlated factors for kidney impairment in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 infection Methods: This nested retrospective study examined medical files of patients with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia. The outcome variable was kidney dysfunction ( defined as functional renal indexes beyond the normal range) and associated factors. Multivariate logistic regression was employed to establish factors associated with renal dysfunction. Results: 179 patients were included in this nested study and the mean age was 58.3 years (SD 16.5) and 49.0% were female. The prevalence of renal dysfunction was 51.9% and 39.3% these patients renal had eGFR<60 mL/min/1.73m2 The proportion of kidney impairment was higher in males than females (59.3% vs.44.3 %), patients with underlying hypertension than normotensive (60.5% vs. 39.5 %) and those with chronic kidney disease (CKD) than those without (90% vs. 10%). After adjusting for age, male gender, critical COVID-19 disease, and raised white cell count, hypertension was an independent predictor of kidney impairment with a AOR 1.54 (95% CI [1.06-2.23],p=0.022). Presence of HIV or diabetes mellitus showed a non statistical significance with renal dysfunction. Conclusion: The study demonstrated a high prevalence of kidney dysfunction in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and presence of hypertension predicted nearly 2-fold development renal impairment.