Emergency department visits and hospital admissions in kidney transplant recipients during the COVID-19 pandemic: A hospital-based study

Table 1 Baseline demographics of kidney transplantation patients during the study period

Characteristics	COVID-19, n = 112	Control, n = 151	P value
Male sex, n (%)	70 (62.5)	93 (61.6)	0.92
Age at transplant, mean ± SD	45.5 ± 10.4	43.7 ± 13.4	0.23
Age at transplant, n (%)			0.20
< 40	35 (31.3)	55 (36.4)
40-59	68 (6.7)	77 (51.0)
≥ 60	9 (8.0)	19 (12.6)
Donor type, n (%)			0.65
Living donor	41 (36.6)	59 (39.1)
Deceased donor	71 (63.4)	92 (60.9)
Insurance, n (%)			0.66
Universal coverage	24 (21.4)	56 (37.1)
Social security scheme	33 (29.5)	40 (26.5)
Government officer	55 (49.1)	55 (36.4)
Charlson comorbidity index, mean ± SD	1.7 ± 1.5	1.8 ± 1.5	0.59

COVID-19: Coronavirus disease 2019.

Table 2 Clinical variables of kidney transplantation patients who presented to the emergency department within 1 year during the study period

Variables	COVID-19 (January 2020-December 2021), n = 34	Control (January 2018-December 2019), n = 41	P value
Time to first ED visit since transplantation in day, mean ± SD	130.8 ± 106.2	120.6 ± 105.3	0.88
Triage level, n (%)			0.71
Resuscitation	2 (5.9)	1 (2.4)
Emergency	13 (38.2)	13 (31.7)
Urgency	12 (35.3)	20 (48.8)
Less urgency	5 (14.7)	6 (14.6)
Non-urgency	2 (5.9)	1 (2.4)
Total ED times in min, mean ± SD	275.8 ± 263.5	232.7 (120.6)	0.35
Total ED times in min, median (IQR)	210.5 (130-330)	222 (138-300)	0.35
Admission, n (%)	13 (38.2)	27 (65.9)	0.02
Type of disposition, n (%)			0.10
ICU admission	1 (2.9)	1 (2.4)
General ward admission	12 (35.3)	25 (61.0)
OU admission	0 (0)	1 (2.4)
Referred	0 (0)	0 (0)
Discharge	21 (61.8)	14 (34.2)
Against advice	0 (0)	0 (0)
Death at ED	0 (0)	0 (0)
Intubation, n (%)	0 (0)	1 (2.4)	0.36
CPR, n (%)	0 (0)	0 (0)	N/A

COVID-19: Coronavirus disease 2019; CPR: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; ED: Emergency department; ICU: Intensive care unit; IQR: Interquartile range; N/A: Not applicable; OU: Observational unit.

Table 3 Multivariable hazard ratios of emergency department visit and hospital admission by risk characteristics

Outcomes	Multivariable HR1	95%CI	P value
First ED visit	1.02	0.54-1.92	0.96
Any ED visit	1.24	0.73-2.10	0.43
ED visit leading to hospital admission	0.92	0.50-1.69	0.78

¹Adjusted for sex, age, donor, insurance, Charlson comorbidity index.

CI: Confidence interval; ED: Emergency department; HR: Hazard ratio.

Table 4 Top five emergency department diagnoses recorded during the study period

No	ICD-10	Diagnoses	%
January 2018-December 2019
1	R509	Fever, unspecified	12.8
2	R104	Other and unspecified abdominal pain	12.8
3	N185	Chronic kidney disease, stage 5	10.3
4	A099	Gastroenteritis and colitis of unspecified origin	10.3
5	A419	Septicemia, unspecified	10.3
January 2020-December 2021
1	R104	Other and unspecified abdominal pain	23.7
2	N390	Urinary tract infection, site not specified	10.5
3	A419	Septicemia, unspecified	7.9
4	A099	Gastroenteritis and colitis of unspecified origin	5.3
5	R074	Chest pain, unspecified	5.3

ICD: International Classification of Diseases.