Prevalence and Factors Associated with Acute Kidney Injury in Sub-Saharan African Adults: A Review of the Current Literature

Abstract

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a complex condition that can occur in both community and hospital settings and has many aetiologies. These aetiologies may be infectious, toxic, surgical, or related to the different management methods. Although it is a major public health problem worldwide, it must be emphasised that both its incidence and mortality rate appear to be very high in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries compared to developed countries. The profile of AKI is very different from that of more developed countries. There are no reliable statistics on the incidence of AKI in SSA. Infections (malaria, HIV, diarrhoeal, and other diseases), nephrotoxins, and obstetric and surgical complications are the main aetiologies in Africa. The management of AKI is costly and associated with high rates of prolonged hospitalisation and in-hospital mortality.

Predictors of Mortality in Adults with Acute Kidney Injury Requiring Dialysis: A Cohort Analysis

“…Acute kidney injury (AKI) is defined as a sudden and often reversible decline in kidney function. It is a common complication in hospitalized patients and is strongly associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs [ 1 , 2 ]. AKI is responsible for a high number of deaths in adults worldwide, especially as recent studies do not show a trend towards a decrease in the incidence and mortality [ 2 , 3 ].…”

“…It is a common complication in hospitalized patients and is strongly associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs [ 1 , 2 ]. AKI is responsible for a high number of deaths in adults worldwide, especially as recent studies do not show a trend towards a decrease in the incidence and mortality [ 2 , 3 ]. The disease is underestimated due to difficulties in accessing care, lack of knowledge of the general demographics, and lack of blood tests in hospitals [ 4 ].…”

“…It has been suggested that AKI cases in developing countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) may have a different epidemiological profile to those in developed countries. AKI patients in developing countries tend to be younger, have AKI without many risk factors, have fewer comorbidities, and have a lower mortality rate [ 2 , 7 – 9 ].…”

“…It has been suggested that AKI cases in developing countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) may have a different epidemiological profile to those in developed countries. AKI patients in developing countries tend to be younger, have AKI without many risk factors, have fewer comorbidities, and have a lower mortality rate [2,[7][8][9]. us, studying the profile of AKI patients receiving hemodialysis (HD) will expand the collection of AKI-related data in low-income countries and contribute to decisionmaking efforts in the region.…”

Causes and outcome of acute kidney injury amongst adults patients in two hospitals of different category in Cameroon; a 5 year retrospective comparative study

“…The cause of AKI is often multifactorial with pre-existing comorbidities further increasing the risk [ 3 – 5 ], and include sepsis, volume depletion, nephrotoxic agents, major surgery, cardiogenic shock, complications with medications, hepato-renal syndrome, obstructive uropathy [ 5 – 8 ]. A recent meta-analysis by Kahindo et al reported that the common causes of AKI in adults in SSA were infections (28%), nephrotoxins (18%), pregnancy related (16%), glomerular disease (8%) and hypovolemia (5%) [ 9 ].…”