Assessing the impact of COmorbidities and Sociodemographic factors on Multiorgan Injury following COVID-19: rationale and protocol design of COSMIC, a UK multicentre observational study of COVID-negative controls

Introduction
SARS-CoV-2 disease (COVID-19) has had an enormous health and economic impact globally. Although primarily a respiratory illness, multi-organ involvement is common in COVID-19, with evidence of vascular-mediated damage in the heart, liver, kidneys and brain in a substantial proportion of patients following moderate-to-severe infection. The pathophysiology and long-term clinical implications of multi-organ injury remain to be fully elucidated. Age, gender, ethnicity, frailty and deprivation are key determinants of infection severity, and both morbidity and mortality appear higher in patients with underlying comorbidities such as ischaemic heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. Our aim is to gain mechanistic insights into the pathophysiology of multiorgan dysfunction in people with COVID-19 and maximise the impact of national COVID-19 studies with a comparison group of COVID-negative controls.

Methods and analysis
COmorbidities and Sociodemographic factors on Multiorgan Injury following COVID-19 (COSMIC) is a prospective, multicentre UK study which will recruit 200 subjects without clinical evidence of prior COVID-19 and perform extensive phenotyping with multiorgan imaging, biobank serum storage, functional assessment and patient reported outcome measures, providing a robust control population to facilitate current work and serve as an invaluable bioresource for future observational studies.

Ethics and dissemination
Approved by the National Research Ethics Service Committee East Midlands (REC reference 19/EM/0295). Results will be disseminated via peer-reviewed journals and scientific meetings.

Trial registration number
COSMIC is registered as an extension of C-MORE (Capturing Multi-ORgan Effects of COVID-19) on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04510025).

Leggi
Marzo 2025

Air pollution-associated chronic kidney disease (APA-CKD): evidence from a cross-sectional study of Niger Delta communities

Objective
Air pollution is an emerging risk factor for chronic kidney disease (CKD) that is typically ignored in preventive interventions. This study investigated whether long-term exposure to ambient air pollution in communities near petrochemical industries in the Niger Delta was associated with CKD.

Design
A cross-sectional study with an embedded citizen science inquiry.

Settings
Four communities situated at varying distances from a petrochemical refinery in Niger Delta, Nigeria.

Participants
We obtained sociodemographic, behavioural, exposure history and clinical data from 1460 participants who have resided for at least 5 years in the four communities. A citizen science approach was used to monitor air pollutant concentrations with eight community volunteers.

Results
The mean PM2.5, PM10 and volatile organic compounds (VOC) concentrations exceeded the WHO-acceptable limits in all four communities. CO2 was acceptable in the farthest communities from the refinery, while O3 was within acceptable limits in all communities. The total hazard quotient was relatively higher in the two communities near the refinery (11.27, 11.63) than those farther (9.63, 10.68), F=0.038, p=0.989. The overall prevalence of CKD was 12.3%; it was 17.9% in the community closest to the refinery and 8.0% in the farthest (2=18.292, p=0.004). Increasing age was the only independent risk factor for CKD after adjusting for confounding factors and intrahousehold design effect (adjusted OR 1.26; 95% CI 1.09 to 1.45, p=0.002).

Conclusion
Long-term exposure to ambient air pollution may increase CKD risk in susceptible populations. Social factors and environmental exposures associated with CKD are prevalent in the communities, necessitating multifaceted and inclusive approaches to mitigate air pollution and the associated kidney disease risks. More studies are required to explore the mechanism of air pollution-associated kidney disease and interventions to reverse or limit it.

Leggi
Marzo 2025

Mental and physical health disorders following paediatric traumatic injury: a population-based longitudinal study in Manitoba, Canada

Importance
Paediatric traumatic injury (PTI) is a leading cause of hospitalisation among children. Little is known about subsequent mental and physical health disorders while accounting for pre-injury health.

Objective
To compare pre-injury and post-injury mental and physical disorders in survivors of PTI with an uninjured matched cohort from the general population. This study hypothesised injured youth will have increased rates of mental and physical disorders relative to matched uninjured youth in the post-injury period.

Design
Retrospective longitudinal cohort study using linked administrative health data to examine paediatric patients hospitalised for injury between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2016, measured 2 years pre-injury and 2 years post-injury.

Setting
Population-based study in Manitoba, Canada.

Participants
Youth

Leggi
Marzo 2025

Application of pressure injury preventive measures and bundles in home and community environments: a scoping review protocol

Introduction
Several studies have addressed the use of pressure injury preventive measures and bundles for hospitalised patients. However, there is a gap in research regarding the use of pressure injury preventive measures and bundles in the home environment. This scoping review aims to identify, explore and map the international literature on pressure injury preventive measures and bundles in the home and community environments.

Methods and analysis
The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews will be used to guide the reporting of this scoping review. The Joanna Briggs Institute guide will inform the methods. A modified version of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols will be used to guide the reporting of this scoping review protocol. An initial search was carried out in July 2024. The search will be conducted in electronic databases such as LILACS, SciELO, Scopus, PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library and Web of Science. The search will be restricted to studies in English, Portuguese and Spanish, with no time restriction. Additional literature will be retrieved by reviewing the reference lists of the selected studies based on their titles. Two independent reviewers will carry out the data extraction process. Essential details, including the author, references and findings pertinent to the review questions, will be collected. The findings will be displayed through graphs, tables and figures, supplemented by a narrative summary.

Ethics and dissemination
As this review will be conducted using secondary data, ethical approval is not required. Results will be shared with the international scientific community through conference presentations and publication in a high-impact journal.

Study registration
This scoping review was registered with the Open Science Framework registry (osf.io/m5gvn) on 8 August 2024.

Leggi
Marzo 2025

Impact of hospital-based early detection on management in chronic kidney disease: the CKD Stewardship study (CKD-S) – protocol for a prospective, multicentre, observational cohort study

Introduction
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) causes significant morbidity and mortality. Medical therapies can reduce the progression of disease by up to 50%. CKD is undiagnosed in the majority of people who have it, resulting in undertreatment. CKD Stewardship (CKD-S) aims to identify hospital inpatients with undiagnosed mid-stage to late-stage CKD with the goal of facilitating diagnosis and initiating guideline-based therapies.

Methods and analysis
This prospective, multicentre, cohort study compares two models of care, CKD-S and standard care, for identification and management of CKD, across six public hospitals in metropolitan Sydney, Australia. CKD-S entails active case finding using the electronic medical record, with nephrologist outreach to admitting teams and kidney nurse provided patient education. Adult inpatients with an admission estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)80 years). Participants will be enrolled between 1 March 2024 and 1 March 2025. Baseline and demographic data will be collected after discharge from the hospital. Participants will be followed up 12 months after discharge using Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule and Medical Benefits Schedule data, linked via the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Hub. We will report the proportion of all adults admitted to the hospital who are not already known to a nephrologist, in which a diagnosis of stage 3b–5 CKD is recognised by the CKD-S intervention team, compared with standard care. We will then compare the proportion in each cohort who have an eGFR or urine albumin:creatinine ratio measured, are referred to a nephrologist, and are prescribed guideline-directed therapies over the 12 months following discharge from the hospital.

Ethics and dissemination
The study has ethics approval from the Sydney Local Health District’s Ethics Committee (Concord Hospital Zone). The results of the CKD-S study will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at academic conferences.

Trial registration number
ACTRN12624000452594.

Leggi
Marzo 2025

Transfusion Strategy for Acute Brain Injury

To the Editor Dr Taccone and colleagues’ randomized clinical trial has important implications for managing critically ill patients with acute brain injury and anemia. The challenge of balancing anemia and hypoxia-related secondary brain injury against potential transfusion-related complications remains substantial.

Leggi
Marzo 2025

Transfusion Strategy for Acute Brain Injury

To the Editor The recently published TRAIN randomized clinical trial provided new evidence that a liberal transfusion strategy with a hemoglobin threshold of 9 g/dL significantly improved neurological outcomes at 180 days compared with a restrictive strategy with a threshold of 7 g/dL in patients with acute brain injury. Although the comparison between the TRAIN trial and the HEMOTION trial has already been well documented, we would like to highlight a previously unnoted major difference between these 2 trials, the treatment duration.

Leggi
Marzo 2025