Community-Acquired Acute Kidney Injury Induced By Drugs In Older Patients: A Multifactorial Event

Community-acquired acute kidney injury (CA-AKI) is a frequent and severe adverse drug reaction (ADR) among older patients. The combination of drugs and other CA-AKI risk factors was barely evaluated. The objectives of our study were to both accurately identify CA-AKI induced by drugs in older patients, and to describe their combination with other risk factors.

We conducted a retrospective, single-center study in a general hospital over a two-year period. An automated detection identified CA-AKI according to KDIGO criteria, amongst 4,767 eligible inpatient stays among patients aged 75 years or older. Two independent experts reviewed all CA-AKI events to adjudicate drug involvement (Naranjo scale), identify inappropriate prescriptions (STOPP criteria), evaluate avoidability (Hallas criteria) and identify combined risk factors.

An expert review confirmed 713 CA-AKI (15.0% of inpatient stays) and determined that 419 (58.8%) CA-AKI were induced by drugs. A multifactorial cause (i.e., at least one drug with a precipitating factor) was found in 63.2% of drug-induced CA-AKI. Most of the drug-induced events were avoidable (66.8%), mainly in relation to a multifactorial cause.

Drug-induced CA-AKI were frequent, multifactorial events in hospitalized older patients and their prevention should focus on combinations with precipitating factors.