Association of an Acute Kidney Injury Follow-up Clinic With Patient Outcomes and Care Processes: A Cohort Study.
Am J Kidney Dis 2022;
81:554-563.e1. [PMID:
36521779 DOI:
10.1053/j.ajkd.2022.10.011]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2022] [Accepted: 10/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE
To determine whether attendance at an acute kidney injury (AKI) follow-up clinic is associated with reduced major adverse kidney events.
STUDY DESIGN
Propensity-matched cohort study.
SETTING & PARTICIPANTS
Patients hospitalized with AKI in Ontario, Canada, from February 1, 2013, through September 30, 2017, at a single clinical center, who were not receiving dialysis when discharged.
EXPOSURE
Standardized assessment by a nephrologist.
OUTCOMES
Time to a major adverse kidney event, defined as death, initiation of maintenance dialysis, or incident/progressive chronic kidney disease.
ANALYTICAL APPROACH
Propensity scores were used to match each patient who attended an AKI follow-up clinic to 4 patients who received standard care. Cox proportional hazards models were fit to assess the association between the care within an AKI follow-up clinic and outcomes. To avoid immortal time bias, we randomly assigned index dates to the comparator group.
RESULTS
We matched 164 patients from the AKI follow-up clinic to 656 patients who received standard care. During a mean follow-up of 2.2±1.3 (SD) years, care in the AKI follow-up clinic was not associated with a reduction in major adverse kidney events relative to standard care (22.1 vs 24.7 events per 100 patient-years; HR, 0.91 [95% CI, 0.75-1.11]). The AKI follow-up clinic was associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality (HR, 0.71 [95% CI, 0.55-0.91]). Patients aged at least 66 years who attended the AKI follow-up clinic were more likely to receive β-blockers (HR, 1.34 [95% CI, 1.02-1.77]) and statins (HR, 1.35 [95% CI, 1.05-1.74]), but not angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (HR, 1.21 [95% CI, 0.94-1.56]).
LIMITATIONS
Single-center study and residual confounding.
CONCLUSIONS
Specialized postdischarge follow-up for AKI survivors was not associated with a lower risk of major adverse kidney events but was associated with a lower risk of death and increased prescriptions for some cardioprotective medications.
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