Nutritional risk and morbidity and mortality in intensive care unit patients with Coronavirus disease 2019

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread rapidly, with 37 million cases and more than 699,000 deaths. Among intensive care unit (ICU) patients with COVID-19, a high incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) has been observed, ranging from 50 to 80%; furthermore, 85.9% were calculated to have high nutritional risk, which doubled their odds of death. The aim of the present study was to evaluate possible associations between nutritional risk, acute kidney injury, and morbidity and mortality in patients with COVID-19 admitted to an ICU.

Retrospective cohort study of adult and older-adult patients hospitalized for >24 h in an ICU. The exposure was diagnosis of COVID-19, while the outcomes were mortality, acute kidney injury, dialysis, mechanical ventilation, and vasopressor use. The association of nutritional risk with outcomes was evaluated. The sample consisted of two secondary datasets. Individuals aged <18 years, those with dialytic chronic kidney disease, pregnant women, and those diagnosed with brain death were excluded.

The sample consisted of 192 patients: 101 in the exposure group (positive for COVID-19) and 91 in the control group (no COVID-19 diagnosis). The COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 groups differed significantly in the variables weight, body mass index (BMI), nutritional risk, mNUTRIC-S score, and length of ICU stay. Our results suggest that the optimal mNUTRIC-S score cutoff to predict nutritional risk is <5 points.

COVID-19 has a significant impact on patients' kidney function, increasing the incidence of AKI and the likelihood of death. Nutritional risk is a major factor in the mortality of patients with COVID-19. Therefore, use of the mNUTRIC-S scale could contribute to assessment of prognosis in this patient population.