Effect of COVID-19 with or without acute kidney injury on inpatient mortality in England: a national observational study using administrative data

Objectives
To evaluate hospital outcomes and their predictors during the pandemic for patients with and without COVID-19, stratified by the presence of acute kidney injury (AKI).

Design
Retrospective observation study using the Hospital Episodes Statistics database for England.

Participants
2 385 337 unique hospital admissions of adult patients from March 2020 to March 2021 in England.

Main outcome measures
COVID-19 cases were identified by the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) code of U07.1. Patients with suspected COVID-19 (U07.2 code) and patients with end-stage kidney disease on chronic dialysis (N18.6 and Z99.2) were excluded. AKI cases were identified by the ICD10 code. Patients were categorised into four groups based on COVID-19 and AKI diagnoses: Group 1—neither; Group 2—COVID-19 only; Group 3—AKI only; Group 4—both. A multivariable logistic regression model was created with in-hospital mortality as the outcome, including diagnostic groups, demographics, admission methods, comorbidity severity, deprivation index and intensive therapy unit (ITU) admission.

Results
Among 2 385 337 admissions involving 663 628 patients, 856 544 had AKI (N17 codes) and 1 528 793 did not. Among patients without AKI, there were 1,008,774 admissions among 133,988 individuals without COVID-19 (Group 1) and 520,019 admissions among 256,037 individuals with COVID-19 (Group 2). Among patients with AKI, there were 630,342 admissions among 218,270 individuals without COVID-19 (Group 3) and 226,202 admissions among 55,333 individuals with COVID-19 (Group 4). Patients in group 4 were older (75.4 ± 13.8 years) and had greater length of stay (17.1 ± 17 days) than all other groups. They also had and had a greater proportion of males, ethnic minorities and comorbidities than other groups. Mortality was highest in Group 4 (28.7%) and lowest in Group 1 (1.1%). The increased risk of death persisted after controlling for multiple baseline factors (OR for death vs Group 1: Group 4—22.28, Group 2—9.67, Group 3—6.44). ITU admission was least required in Group 1 (1.2%) and most in Group 4 (10.9%), with mortality at 4.8% versus 47.8%, respectively.

Conclusions
Patients with COVID-19 and AKI have a high risk of mortality and should be recognised early and provided with optimal support. Planning for future pandemics should ensure adequate critical care and acute dialysis capacity.

Trial registration number
NCT04579562.

Leggi
Marzo 2025

Emotional awareness and expression therapy (EAET) for chronic pain following traumatic orthopaedic injury and surgery: study protocol for a single-arm feasibility clinical trial

Background
Nearly half of individuals who sustain orthopaedic trauma develop chronic pain and experience significant levels of depression and anxiety. Emotional awareness and expression therapy (EAET) is a newly developed psychological intervention designed to treat chronic pain by helping patients process psychological trauma and conflict to reduce pain. The purpose of this study is to examine the feasibility of delivering EAET to individuals who sustained traumatic orthopaedic injuries requiring surgery and who have chronic pain 6 months after hospital discharge.

Methods and analysis
The study will consist of a single-arm design. Thirty individuals who sustained traumatic orthopaedic injuries requiring surgery and who reported chronic pain 6 months after hospital discharge will be recruited. Participants will receive eight sessions of individually administered EAET delivered via telehealth and complete self-report questionnaires at three timepoints (pretreatment, post-treatment and 3-month follow-up). Quantitative sensory testing will also be done before and after treatment. The primary outcome of the study is feasibility (eg, per cent of eligible patients recruited and per cent of study completers) and acceptability as reported by responses to a self-report questionnaire.

Ethics and dissemination
This study has been approved by the Johns Hopkins Institutional Review Board. All data are expected to be collected by 2026, with results of this study to be disseminated via relevant peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences.

Trial registration number
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05989230. Registered on 14 August 2023.

Leggi
Marzo 2025

Enhancing the experience and outcomes of children with complex care needs in acute paediatric settings: a realist review protocol

Introduction
The number of babies, children and young people with complex care needs (henceforth children with complex care needs (CCCN)) in England has increased in recent decades, and this has also been recognised globally. CCCN may have frequent and lengthy hospital admissions, but during these episodes, their needs are not always met, potentially resulting in suboptimal experiences and outcomes. Despite increased numbers of CCCN accessing acute care and displaying greater complexity, much of the contemporary literature has focused on primary care coordination between health, education and social care. Research specifically focused on CCCN in the acute care setting is largely absent. This realist review aims to understand how optimal experience and outcomes are achieved for CCCN during acute care, in different settings, for whom and why.

Methods and analysis
This realist review will proceed through six steps: (1) clarifying the scope of the review, (2) searching for evidence, (3) data selection and quality appraisal, (4) data extraction, (5) analysis and synthesis and (6) dissemination. We will search Medline, Cumulated Index in Nursing and Allied Health Literature and PsycINFO, alongside grey literature and other sources and will carry out citation tracking. Patient and public involvement and engagement have aided in the development of this protocol and will be maintained through regular consultations with a stakeholder group throughout the review. The review will result in a programme theory which will include context-mechanism-outcome configurations and provide data to support claims of generative causation.

Ethics and dissemination
Ethical approval is not required for this review as it does not involve primary research. The programme theory developed will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and relevant conferences. It will subsequently inform the development of an intervention to improve acute care for CCCN.

PROSPERO registration number
CRD42024591231.

Leggi
Marzo 2025

Homocysteine levels and cardiovascular disease risk factors in chronic kidney disease (CKD), hypertensive and healthy Nigerian adults: a comparative retrospective study

Objectives
To investigate homocysteine (Hcy) levels in individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD), hypertension and a healthy Nigerian population, and to assess their association with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.

Setting
The study was conducted using data from the Ibadan CRECKID (Cardiovascular and Renal Event in People with Chronic Kidney Disease) study in Nigeria.

Participants
A total of 420 adults (aged 18+) categorised into three groups: individuals with stage 2 CKD or higher, hypertensive non-CKD individuals and normotensive individuals.

Outcomes
The primary outcome was the difference in serum Hcy levels across the groups; secondary outcomes included the prevalence of hyperhomocysteinaemia (HHcy) and correlation with fibroblast growth factor (FGF).

Results
No significant difference in mean serum Hcy levels among the CKD, hypertensive and healthy groups (p=0.39) was observed. However, HHcy (≥15 µmol/L) prevalence was significantly higher in the hypertensive group (p

Leggi
Marzo 2025

Factors associated with prehospital and in-hospital delays in acute ischaemic stroke care in Indonesia: a systematic review

Objectives
This systematic review examines prehospital and in-hospital delays in acute stroke care in Indonesia.

Design
Systematic review adhering to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

Data sources
We conducted a thorough search across 11 databases, ClinicalTrials.gov registries and three preprint repositories up until October 2024.

Eligibility criteria
Studies that examined risk variables associated with hospital delays in the treatment of acute stroke in Indonesian individuals were included.

Data extraction and synthesis
Two reviewers each carried out the data extraction and risk-of-bias evaluation separately. The quality of the study was evaluated using the Risk of Bias in Non-randomised Studies of Exposures tool. The ‘combining p values’ approach and albatross plots were used to synthesise the findings.

Results
A total of 27 studies with 3610 patients were included. Key factors contributing to prehospital delays included low educational level (p=0.014, 6 studies), low socioeconomic status (p=0.003, 5 studies), cultural beliefs affecting decision-making (p

Leggi
Marzo 2025

Mucosal macrophages govern intestinal regeneration in response to injury.

Cancer patients treated with radiotherapy in the abdominal and pelvic cavity develop radiation-induced enteritis, a condition that impairs their quality of life. Radiation injury depletes proliferative intestinal stem cells (ISCs); in response to this, the epithelium activates a regenerative program that facilitates the healing of the intestine. However, the mechanisms that induce the activation of the intestinal regenerative program are poorly characterized.

Leggi
Marzo 2025

Reevaluating Respiratory Support in Acute Respiratory Failure

There is a fundamental question in emergency medicine: Is high-flow nasal oxygen an appropriate alternative to noninvasive ventilation across varied presentations of acute respiratory failure? In this issue of JAMA, a multicenter, adaptive, randomized clinical trial, conducted by the RENOVATE Investigators and the BRICNet Authors, explored the noninferiority of high-flow nasal oxygen vs noninvasive ventilation in reducing endotracheal intubation or death within 7 days across 5 distinct acute respiratory failure patient groups, including a dedicated COVID-19 cohort.

Leggi
Marzo 2025