The comorbidity profile among chronic kidney disease patients in clinical practice: A prospective study

The comorbidity profile among chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients can influence and predispose them to increase mortality and health-care costs. In addition, there could also be a prolongation in the length of hospital stay and recurrent frequency of hospitalization. This study was predominantly designed to highlight and create awareness concerning the burden of comorbidity profile among CKD patients in renal practice. This was a descriptive prospective study of 18-month duration that was carried out to review the medical case records of consented adult CKD patients attending a Nigerian Tertiary Kidney Care Hospital from January 2015 to June 2016. This study involved 123 consented adult CKD patients comprising 82 (66.67%) males and 41 (33.33%) females, with a mean age of 53.81 ± 16.03 years. A majority of the respondents 45 (36.59%) were having 2 comorbidities with hypertension in 103 (83.70%), diabetes mellitus in 39 (31.70%), obesity in 24 (19.51%), heart failure in 11 (8.90%), obstructive uropathy in 8 (6.50%), human immunodeficiency virus infection in 7 (5.70%), peptic ulcer disease/gastroesophageal reflux disease in 7 (5.70%), gastroenteritis/gastrointestinal tract sepsis in 6 (4.9%), stroke in 5 (4.10%), adult polycystic kidney disease in 5 (4.10%), and hepatitis B virus infection in 5 (4.10%), being the most frequent. Eighty-six (69.9%) patients were in CKD Stage 5, 15 (12.2%) were in CKD Stage 4, 19 (15.5%) were in CKD Stage 3, 2 (1.6%) in CKD Stage 2, and the remaining one (0.8%) in CKD Stage 1. Regarding the form of nephrological interventions offered, majority of the respondents 66 (53.66%) were on maintenance dialysis, followed by 53 (43.09%) on conservative care, while 4 (3.25%) were on renal graft transplant. The prevalence rates for comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and obesity were significantly high among these CKD patients; this agreed with the previous studies conducted in other regions of the world. In this study, the comorbidity profile among CKD patients may significantly increase the risk of mortality, recurrent frequency of hospitalization, length of hospital admission, and health-care costs.