Background: This study aims to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on the progression of CKD in non-dialysis patients and its relation to clinical outcomes in Palestine.

Materials and methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study that followed non-dialysis CKD patients receiving treatment at outpatient clinics in governmental hospitals. Out of the 248 CKD patients who met the inclusion criteria, 98 were diagnosed with COVID-19 between March 2020 and March 2022. We collected data at three distinct time intervals, both prior to and after their COVID-19 infection. We examined the decline in eGFR and gathered demographic information, hospitalization, and mortality rates. The drop in eGFR was recorded 15 months from baseline.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 55 years, with 55.6% being male. Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 faced a significantly higher risk of rapid deterioration in eGFR, with a 3.7-fold increase compared to those without COVID-19 (ap-value: <0.001; aOR: 3.7; 95% CI: 2.1–6.3). Additionally, COVID-19 patients had 4.4 times higher mortality rates (ap-value: 0.005; aOR: 4.4; 95% CI: 1.6–12.4), 13.3 times higher rates of dialysis initiation within 15 months post-baseline (ap-value: <0.001; aOR: 13.3; 95% CI: 6.1–28.7), and 3.5 times higher rates of hospital admissions (ap-value: <0.001; aOR: 3.5; 95% CI: 1.8–6.7) compared to the COVID-19 negative group.

Conclusion: CKD patients who contract COVID-19 experience a more rapid decline in kidney function, leading to worse health outcomes, including increased mortality rates, a greater need for dialysis, and higher hospitalization rates.

Title

Annals of Medicine

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Publisher Country

United Kingdom

Indexing

Scopus

Impact Factor

3.9

Publication Type

Both (Printed and Online)

Volume

57

Year

2025

Pages

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