Objective To determine the incidence of and risk-factors for development of acute kidney injury (AKI) and investigate the association between AKI and mortality in patients hospitalized with Covid-19. Patients and Methods This retrospective case series includes the first 370 patients consecutively hospitalized with confirmed Covid-19 illness between March 10, 2020 and May 13, 2020, at a 242-bed teaching hospital. To determine independent association between demographic factors, comorbidities and AKI incidence, multivariable-logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios adjusted for clinical covariates. Results Median age of patients was 71 (59–82) years and 44.3% were female. Patients with AKI were significantly older with a higher comorbidity-burden and mortality-rate (58.1% vs 19.6%, p<.001) when compared to those without AKI. Increasing age, chronic kidney disease, hyperlipidemia and being of African-American descent showed higher odds of AKI. Patients with AKI had significantly higher odds of mortality when compared to patients without AKI, and this effect was proportional to the stage of AKI. Increasing age and acute respiratory distress syndrome also revealed higher adjusted odds of mortality. Conclusion AKI is a common complication among hospitalized Covid-19 patients. We found significantly higher odds of AKI with increasing age, among hyperlipidemics and patients with chronic kidney disease and among African-Americans. We demonstrate an independent association between AKI and mortality with increasingly higher odds of mortality from progressively worsening renal failure in hospitalized Covid-19 patients.

Background: The global prevalence of mental disorders is high and has an increasing trend. In Nepal, there is dearth in literature on prevalence of mental disorders based on national representative sample. In this study, we aim to present the findings on the prevalence of mental disorders from the pilot study of National Mental Health Survey, Nepal. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1647 participants aged 13 years and above in three districts of Nepal: Dhanusha, Bhaktapur and Dolakha each representing three ecological regions. Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) standard version 7.0.2 for DSM-5 was used for adults (aged 18 years and above), and kid version of the same tool was used for children (aged 13-17 years) in Nepali language. Separate sets of questions were added for epilepsy and dissociative conversion disorder that were not in the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview tool. Prevalence of assessed mental disorders was reported separately for adults and children.Results: The current prevalence of mental disorders among adults and children were 13.2% and 11.2% respectively. Substance use disorder, dissociative conversion disorder, major depressive disorder, alcohol use disorder and psychotic disorder were common among adults. Similarly, psychotic disorder, agoraphobia, major depressive disorder, and anxiety disorders were common among children. Current suicidality was present among 10.9% adults and 8.7% children.Conclusions: Our findings from the pilot study have given insight into the prevalence of different mental disorders in the survey areas. These findings can be utilized for planning the National Mental Health Survey, Nepal. Keywords: Mental disorders; mental health survey; MINI; Nepal; pilot study.

Surgical site infection is common among patients undergoing abdominal surgery at TUTH. This study identified some preventable risk factors associated with SSI at TUTH. Identification of such risk factors is expected to help surgeons improve patient care and decrease mortality and morbidity as well as the hospital-care cost of surgical patients.

PurposeThe present study was undertaken to determine the impact of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) on the quality of life of affected individuals in Nepal.Patients and methodsA cross sectional study was done among 70 individuals attending the Anti-Retroviral Therapy clinic of the University Hospital in Nepal. Quality of life (QOL) was evaluated using World Health Organization Quality of life questionnaire (WHO QOL-BREF) instrument. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS Version 17.0.ResultsThe median scores with interquartile range (IQR) in four domains of QOL in descending order were physical (61; IQR 22), social (58; IQR 33), environmental (56; IQR 13), and psychological (54; IQR 8). Older age was associated with lower perceived overall QOL. Females were more likely to have lower QOL scores in the social and psychological domains. Higher CD4 counts and a married status were significant predictors of higher QOL scores in the environmental domain.ConclusionBeing older, female, single, and having advanced clinical stage is associated with lower QOL scores in people living with AIDS. Lowest QOL scores were seen in the psychological domain suggesting the need of psychological interventions.

Conventional treatment for severe AECOPD is associated with rapid reduction of neutrophilic inflammation and improvement in anti-protease defences.