Renal Function Abnormalities among Patients with Acute Stroke at a Tertiary Hospital in Ethiopia

Stroke is the leading cause of neurological disability and the second commonest cause of death globally. Despite the fact that renal dysfunction is a common comorbidity of stroke, there is no data on the prevalence of renal dysfunction among patients with acute stroke in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to determine the magnitude of renal dysfunction, factors associated with renal dysfunction and risk of in-hospital mortality.

A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Yekatit 12 Hospital Medical College among consecutive 192 patients, who were admitted with acute stroke from September 2020 to September 2021. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire after pilot survey was done. A Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was fitted to identify determinants of renal function abnormalities. Renal dysfunction was defined as serum creatinine >1.2mg/dl.

The mean age (SD) of study participants was 62.2 (15.9) years. Hundred-one (52.6%) participants were males. Thirty-four (17.7%) of the participants had renal dysfunction. Among patients with renal dysfunction, more than half of them were ≥70 years old and two-thirds were males. Male gender and hypertension increased the risk of renal dysfunction among hospitalized stroke patients. The mortality rate was higher in stroke patients with renal dysfunction (35.3%) as compared with patients having normal renal function (15.2%), but it was not a statistically significant.

Renal dysfunction was a frequent comorbidity among acute stroke patients who were hospitalized. Male gender and hypertension were statistically significant predictors of renal dysfunction. Mortality rate was higher in stroke patients with renal dysfunction, but not a statistically significant predictor of post stroke in-hospital mortality.