Association Between Low Serum Creatinine and Mortality in Patients With Severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Muscle mass may be a better predictor of mortality than BMI in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Serum creatinine depends on muscle mass and renal function; low values may predict higher mortality.

To determine whether there is an association between low serum creatinine and mortality in severe COPD.

This is a retrospective study of serum creatinine values at admission and within the last year before admission. Outcomes measured were mortality at 30 days and one year after admission in patients with acute type 2 respiratory failure secondary to COPD, who were admitted over a one-year period to a respiratory ward (N = 130). The statistics were calculated using the chi-squared test.

There appears to be a significant relationship between the one-year pre-admission creatinine values and mortality at one year (p = 0.0003).

The relationship with mortality appears to be stronger with pre-admission creatinine values rather than the admission values and appears to predict the patients at the highest risk of mortality one year after admission.