Introduction
23
The SAR S-CoV-2 pandemic is a majo r challenge for patien t s , healthcare p rofess ion a ls , and 24
populat i o ns worldwide. Whil e ini t i al repo rt ing focused mainly on lung involv ement, th e 25
ongoing pandemic sho wed t hat m ultiple or gans ca n be inv o l ved, and p r ognosi s i s la r gel y 26
influenced by m ulti-organ involvem ent. Our aim w a s to obtain nationwide retr os p ec t iv e 27
populat i o n -bas ed d a t a on hospitaliz ation s with COVID -19 and AKI . 28
Materials
& Methods 29
We perf ormed a quer y of G -D RG data for the y ear 2020 v ia the Instit u t e f or the ho s pit a l 30
rem unerat ion sys t em (Institut fü r d as Ent gel t system im Krankenhaus Gmb H, InEK) data 31
por tal and th erefo r e inc lud ed hospitaliz ation s with a s econdar y dia gno si s of RT-P CR proven 32
CO VID -19 inf ec t ion, a ged over 15 yea r s . We included hospitaliz at ions with acute ki d ney 33
injury (AKI) s t ages 1 t o 3. A ge-s pe cific and a ge-stand a r diz ed ho spitaliz ation and in-ho s pital 34
mor tali ty r ates (A SR) per 100.000 per s o n year s w er e calcula t ed, wit h t he German 35
populat i o n o f 2011 as t he s t a n dard. 36
Results
37
In 2020, there wer e 16.776 .845 ho sp italizations in G er man hospitals. W e detected 154.170 38
hospitaliz at ions wit h RT-PCR proven COVID -19 diagno si s . The age-standar diz ed 39
hospitaliz at ion rat e for COVID- 19 in Germany wa s 2 32,8 per 100. 000 per son years (95% CI 40
231,6-233 ,9) . The highe st propor tion o f hospitalizations a ssociated with CO VID- 19 were in 41
the age group over 80 years. AK I w as diagno s ed in 16.773 (1 0,9%) o f th e hospitaliz at ions 42
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with C OV ID-19. The relative r is k o f AKI for males was 1,4 9 (95 %CI 1, 44- 1,53) compar ed to 43
females. Renal r eplac em ent t herapy ( RRT) was per formed in 3.443 hospit aliz ations, 20 ,5 % 44
of t he hos p i t ali zations with A KI. For all hos pit ali zations with C OVID - 19, the in-h os pit a l 45
mor tali ty amount ed to 19,7% (n= 30 . 300) . The r elative risk f or in-hospital mor tali ty wa s 3 ,87 46
(95%CI 3 ,80-3 ,9 4) when AKI oc c u rred. The age-standar diz ed hospitalization rat e s for CO V ID-47
19 took a bimodal cour s e during the obse r vation period. The fir s t pea k oc curr ed in Apr i l 48
(ASR 23,95 per 100.0 00 per son year s (95%CI 23 ,58-2 4, 33)), ho spitaliza t ion s peak ed again in 49
Nove m ber 2020 (7 2,8 2 per 100.00 0 person year s (95% CI 7 2, 17-73, 48)). The standar diz ed 50
rat e rat ios (SRR) f o r AKI an d AKI-rela t ed m or tal ity with the o v er a ll A SR for CO V ID-19 51
hospitaliz at ions in t he de nominat or, decreased throu ghout the ob s er v at ion per iod and 52
rem a ined lower in au tumn than they were i n spring. In contr as t t o all CO V ID-19 53
hospitaliz at ions , the SRR for overall m ortality in C O V ID-19 ho spitaliz at i o ns diverged from 54
hospitaliz at ions with A KI in autumn 2 020. 55
Discussion
56
Our stud y f or t he fir s t time pr ovid es nationwide data on COVID -19 r el at ed hospitaliz at ions 57
and acute kidney injury in Germany in 2020. AKI was a relevant compl ication and ass o ciated 58
with high mo r tali ty. W e observed a less prono unced increase in the A SR for AKI- rela ted 59
mor tali ty during aut umn 2020. The pr oport i on o f AK I-relat ed m o rtali t y in compar is on t o th e 60
overall m or tal ity decreas ed t hrougho ut the cour s e of t he pandem ic. 61
62
63
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Introduction
64
The SAR S-CoV-2 pandemic is a majo r challenge for patien t s , healthcare p rofess ion a ls , and 65
populat i o ns worldwide. Whil e ini t i al repo rt ing focused mainly on lung involv ement, th e 66
ongoing pandemic sho wed t hat m ultiple or gans ca n be inv o l ved, and p r ognosi s i s la r gel y 67
influenced by multi-organ involv ement. According t o publis hed dat a, the kidney is the 68
s e c o n d m o s t i n v o l v e d o r g a n . I n a s t u d y f r o m t h e N e w Y o r k C i t y a r e a , 2 2 , 2 % o f h o s p i t a l i z e d 69
patient s s h ow ed a cute k idn e y injury (AKI) (1). A m eta-analy s i s ( 2) confir med the h i gh AKI 70
r a t e a m o n g C O V I D - 1 9 p a t i e n t s . I n c o n t r a s t t o t h i s , t h e r e i s a l s o d a t a w i t h l o w e r i n c i d e n c e o f 71
AKI( 3,4) espe ci ally ear ly analysi s fr om Wuhan, Ch i n a did no t show high inc idence rates of 72
AKI (3–5) . H owever, diffe ren t def ini tions of AKI complica t e com parability. In crit ic ally il l 73
patient s w it h CO VID -19 a s man y a s 55 t o 90% exper i en c ed AKI ( 6–8), of whom 21 to 3 7 % 74
r e q u i r e d r e n a l r e p l a c e m e n t t h e r a p y ( R R T ) ( 6 , 8 , 9 ) . T h e m o r t a l i t y r a t e s o f p a t i e n t s w i t h a c u t e 75
kidney injury ar e si gnif i cant l y h igher than in patien t s with out A KI. In a study b y Chan et al . 76
(9), t he in-hospital mor ta lity was 50% amo ng patients with, ver su s 8 % amo ng those wi t hout 77
AKI. A n analysis b y Fisher et al. (8) fo und similar mo r tal ity rat es (52% vs. 1 9.6%). In addition, 78
the length o f s t ay ( L OS) wa s mar k ed ly pr olonged when AKI occ u rred ( 9,10). 79
The German healthcare s ys t em offer s compr ehens ive insurance cover ag e and , b y 80
inter nat ional c o mpar ison, a high le vel of heal t hcare s er v ices. Th rough out t he CO V ID-19 81
pandemic t here were no apparent ac ut e care r es our ce limitat ions, and the ho s pit a l 82
capa c it i es were at their li mit but no t overwhelmed. Nationwide un s electe d dat a , es pecially 83
covering a longer time int er val is n ot available. Ther e is one ob s er v at ional study, whic h 84
included 10.02 1 ho s p i t ali zations (11 ). The data fr om this stud y wa s ob t ai n ed f rom on e 85
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German h e alt h insurance compan y a n d covered a s hor t period o f time (fr om Febr uary 26 86
until A pril 19, 2020). In this s t ud y, AKI was not addres s ed. 87
Our aim was t o obtain nationwide retrospective popu l at ion -based data on hospitaliz at ions 88
with CO V ID-19 and A KI. Our quer y c overed data fr o m the year 2020 an d contains , to our 89
knowledge, the most c om prehensive dat a regarding patients with COVID- 19 and AK I in 90
Germany. 91
Materials
& Methods 92
Data Source 93
In accor dan c e with the German Hospital Financ in g Act (KH G ) , a univer sal , per formance-94
based remun eration system was introd uc ed for gener al hospital servic es. The basis for t his 95
is the G er man-D i agnosis Related G r oups s ys tem (G-D RG system), where by ea ch inpatient 96
ca s e of tr eatment is r emuner a ted by m ea n s of a cor responding DR G rate. All hospitals 97
submit their hos p i t aliz ation dat a to the Institut e for t he hos pit al r em uner ation s ystem 98
(Institu t für das Ent gelts ystem im K ra nkenhaus G mb H, InEK). A fter s ubm is sion, a plausi b i lit y 99
contr ol of t he data is carried o ut by In EK. The s ub mission of hos pi t al ization d a t a is 100
mandat ory for r eimbursement of hospital s t ays. Thi s lead s to a stro ng ince nt i ve for hospitals 101
to supply complet e data, covering vir tu a lly every hospital in Germ a n y . Th e transfer red da ta 102
include i n for m a t ion on age, sex, discharge type, prim a r y a n d seconda ry ICD -10- GM(12) 103
coded diagno sis (In ternat ional Classifica t ion of D is ease s , 10t h Edition, Ger m a n Modification 104
Ver s ion 2020) and p e r for med oper ations and pr oc ed ures ( Operation en- und 105
Pro z edur enschlü ss el V ersion 2 020, O PS) (13). We per formed a query of G-D RG data for the 106
year 2020 via t he InEK data port al ( http s :// dat enbrowser.inek.or g/). T he InEK data are 107
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avail able in ag gr egated for m, so that diffe r ent iation by federa l stat e is no t pos s ible. 108
Dif fer ent i ation by age can on l y be m ad e i n the pred e f ined age groups and differ en tiati on b y 109
gender only indirectly. The G-D RG data provided by InEK hav e been des c r ibed in det a i l 110
els ewher e (14). 111
Cohort selection 112
We incl u ded hospitaliz at ions w it h a sec o ndar y diagno si s of RT-PCR proven CO V ID-19 113
infection (ICD -10-GM: U07.1), aged over 15 ye ar s . We ex cluded hospi taliz at ions 15.525 114
(9,1%) with hos pit al t ransfer and un k nown dischar ge statu s fr om our a n al ysis. We identified 115
hospitaliz at ions w it h ac u te kidney injury by t heir corr es pon ding I CD-1 0-G M codes ( S1 116
Table). We i n c luded ho s pit a lizations wi t h ac u te kidney i n jur y s t ag e s 1 to 3 (A KIN 1 t o 3) (1 5). 117
We furt her s earched for OPS code s indicating hem odial ysi s and me chanical ve n tilation (S1 118
Table). The survival stat us at the end o f each ho spitaliz ation was obt a i n ed by dischar ge 119
type. The observation per iod was fr om 01.02.20 20 thr oughout 31.12.2 020 . 120
Statistical analysis 121
We c al culated crud e , a ge- s pe cific and age-s t andardized hospitaliz at ion rates (A S R ) pe r 122
100.000 per son years and the respe c t iv e 95% confidence int ervals (95% CI) . We u sed the 123
standard population of Germany in 2011 (16), provided by t he Federal Bureau of Statistics 124
(D ES TA TI S), f or direct a g e- s t andardi za t ion (S2 Table). We fur ther calc u lat ed standar diz ed 125
rat e ratios (SRR ), with t heir r es pe ctive confiden c e i n tervals . Continuou s var i ables are 126
repo rted with standar d devia tion (SD). Categor i cal data is repor ted in absolute number s and 127
percent a ges . We u s ed t he I CD-1 0 v er s ion o f the Elixhau s er comorbidit y in d ex (EC I) to a s s e s s 128
comorb i d i t ies ( 17). We excluded a cut e kidney injur y a s a comorb i d i t y . All data analysi s wa s 129
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carried out usin g R ( Ver sion 3.6. 3) (1 8), fo r dir ec t age- s t andardization t he epitools pac kage 130
(19) was u s ed, cont i n g en cy tables wer e ev aluat ed us ing t he epiR pac ka ge (20). 131
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Results
132
General characteristics and age-standardized rates 133
In 2020, there wer e 16.776 .845 ho sp italizations in G er man hospitals. W e detected 154.170 134
hospitaliz at ions with RT-PCR pr oven COV ID-19 d i agno sis throu g h out the ob s er v at ion period . 135
There were 79.781 (51,8%) male and 74.382 (48,2 %) female pat i ent s hospitaliz ed, 136
respectively (Table 1). In 29.329 (19,0%) of the COVID- 19 a s s ociated hospitaliz at ions the 137
tr eatmen t included an int ensiv e ca r e unit (ICU) s t a y. The age-standar dized hos pit al ization 138
rat e f or CO V ID-19 in G er many was 2 32 ,8 per 100.0 00 person year s (95% CI 231,6-23 3,9) in 139
2020. M os t ho s p i t aliz ations (1 394, 1 p er 100.00 0 per s on year s ) o ccur red in th e ag e gr oup of 140
80 year s a n d older (Fig 1). 141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
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A KI ICU Ove r all
N 16. 773 2 9.32 9 1 5 4. 1 7 0
Gende r % n % n % n
ma l e 6 1, 5 ( 1 0.3 08) 62, 6 (1 8. 361 ) 5 1 , 8 ( 79. 781 )
fem a le 3 8,5 ( 6.4 6 3) 37, 4 (1 0. 965 ) 4 8 , 2 ( 74. 382 )
A ge gr oup ( y e a r s) % n % n % n
16 -1 7 0,0% 1 0,1% 38 0,3% 472
18 -2 9 0,4% 70 1,7% 49 3 4,0% 6143
30 -3 9 0,7% 112 2,8% 82 9 5,3% 8185
40 -4 9 1,9% 326 5,8% 17 04 7,5% 11601
50 -5 4 2,6% 443 5,8% 16 88 6,2% 9537
55 -5 9 4,5% 754 7,9% 23 12 7,5% 11602
60 -6 4 6,8% 1134 9,6% 28 18 7,7% 11858
65 -7 4 20,3% 3408 21 ,8 % 63 98 16,5% 25418
75 -7 9 17,0% 2851 14 ,6 % 42 82 11,7% 18045
80 + 45,8% 7674 29 ,9 % 87 67 33,3% 51309
le n g th of s ta y (d ays,
SD)
1 8,4 ( 1 6 , 9) 1 8, 3 ( 1 6,7) 11, 3 ( 1 1,9)
El ix hau ser
c o mo r b i d ity ind e x ( %,
n)
% n % n % n
0 60 ( 1 0 . 0 41) 6 5 ( 1 8.9 1 8) 6 5 ( 9 9. 78 3)
1 – 4 24 ( 4 . 0 2 9 ) 2 5 ( 7. 18 6) 2 5 ( 3 9. 11 7)
>=5 16 ( 2 . 7 0 3 ) 1 0 ( 3. 22 5) 1 0 ( 1 5. 27 0)
me a n (S D) 2,0 ( 3,8) 1, 6 ( 3, 8 ) 1, 2 ( 3, 1)
Table 1. G ener al char act e r is t ics of C O VID -19 hospitaliz ation s in Ge r man y 2 020. 151
ICU: intensiv e care unit - hos p i t aliz ati on s with inten s ive c ar e treat men t du r ing the hospital 152
sta y, AKI: a cute kidney i n j u ry - ho spitaliz at i o ns with acute kidney injury (A cut e k idney injur y 153
networ k St age 1- 3), SD: standard deviation 154
155
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1 0
Fig 1. Age-spe c ific rat es of C OVID -19 hospitaliz at ions in Germany 2 020 (pe r 100.000 per son 156
years) 157
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1 1
Hospital incidence of acute kidney injury 158
Acute kidney injur y, in cluding AKI Stage s 1-3, was dia gnose d i n 16.7 73 ( 10, 9%) of the 159
hospitaliz ed c a se s wi t h C OVID -19. Th e A S R for AKI was 25. 8 (95% CI 25. 4-26.2) per 100.00 0 160
person year s ( Table 2). W h i le men and wom en we r e equally d istr ibuted among t hos e 161
h o s p i t a l i z e d f o r C O V I D - 1 9 , m e n w e r e m o r e a f f e c t e d b y A K I t h a n w o m e n . T h e r e l a t i v e r i s k o f 162
AKI for m al es wa s 1,4 9 (95% CI 1, 4 4-1,53) compar ed to females hos pit al iz ed with C O V ID-19 163
(S2 Table). W e det ermined 10.310 (61,5%) m al e and 6.463 (38, 5%) female hospitaliz at ions 164
with acute k idn ey injury , respe ctively (Table 1). The propor tion of the se ver ity o f acute 165
kidney injury wa s d istr ibuted as follo ws: 32 ,0% (n= 5.40 7) developed A KI Stage 1, AKI St a ge 166
2 was present in 27,4 % ( n= 4.625) and in 40,6% (n= 6.842) AKI St ag e 3 was c o ded. There 167
were 101 hospitaliz ation s with more than one c od e fo r AKI. When acute k idn e y i n jury wa s 168
present du ring hospital s t a y, 8.3 74 (4 9,9 %) n e ed ed i n tensi ve care. Furt her mo re, mechanic al 169
ventilat ion was requir ed i n 7.0 50 (4 2, 0 %) ho spitaliz at i o ns with acute kidne y injur y (Table 2). 170
The relative r i sk for hos pit ali zations with AKI t o be t r eated in an int ensive c ar e unit was 3 ,27 171
(95%CI 3 ,21-3 ,3 4) (Table 3). 172
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1 2
A K I I C U O v e r a l l
n % n % n %
Overall 1 6.773 (10 ,9%) 29.329 (19,0%) 154 .170 (- )
R e n a l re p l a c e m e n t
therapy
3.4 43 (20,5%) 3.046 (10,4%) -
males 2.6 35 76 ,5% 2.335 76,7% - -
females 808 23 ,5% 711 23,3% - -
I n - h o s p i ta l m o r ta l i ty 9.717 (57 ,9%) 12.322 (40,6%) 30. 300 (19,7 %)
males 6.2 83 64 ,7% 7.990 64,8% 17.635 58, 2%
females 3.4 34 35 ,3% 4.330 35,2% 12.665 41, 8%
AKI Stage s
1 5.4 07 32 ,0% 1.865 20,3% -
2 4.6 25 27 ,4% 2.011 21,8% -
3 6.8 42 40 ,6% 5.333 57,9% -
Chronic kidney
disease
5.524 (32 ,9%) 5.365 (18,3%) 23. 380 (15,2 %)
G3 3.6 38 21 ,7% 3.225 11,0% 15.270 9,9 %
G4 1.4 90 8, 9% 1.084 3,7% 4.535 2,9 %
G5 396 2, 4% 1.056 3,6% 3.575 2,3 %
Mecha nical
ventila t ion
7.050 (42 ,0%) 17.144 (58,5%) -
males 5.0 52 71 ,6% 11.508 67,1% -
females 1.9 98 28 ,3% 5.634 32,9% -
A g e - s t an dar di z e d r at e
(per 100.0 00 PYRs,
95% CI)
25, 8 (25,4-26 , 2) 44 ,0 (43,5-4 4 ,5) 232,8 (2 31,6-233,9 )
173
Table 2: Results CO VID -19 ho spitaliz at ions in Germany 202 0, 174
ICU: intensive c are unit - hospitaliza tions with int e n s ive care t reatment d ur ing the ho s pit a l 175
sta y, AKI: a cute kidney injur y - hospitaliz at i o ns with ac ut e kidney injur y (acute kidney injur y 176
networ k, S t age 1- 3), 95 %C I: 95 % c on f i d enc e int erva l, PYRs: per s o n year s 177
178
179
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1 3
180
ICU N on- IC U O v er a ll
N % N % n
AKI 8.374 49,9 8.3 99 5 0,1 16.773
Non- AKI 20.955 15,3% 116 .442 8 4,7% 137.397
Overall 29.329 19,0% 124 .841 8 1,0% 154.170
Dec ea s ed Alive O v erall
N % N % N
AKI 9.717 57,9% 7.0 56 4 2,1% 16.773
Non- AKI 20.583 15,0% 116 .814 8 5,0% 137.397
Overall 30.300 19,7% 123 .870 8 0,3% 154.170
181
Table 3: Contingenc y table for AKI an d risk of ICU a d mi ssion or in-hospital mor tali ty, 182
ICU: intensiv e care unit - hos p i t aliz ati on s with inten s ive c ar e treat men t du r ing the hospital 183
sta y, AKI: a cute kidney i n j u ry - ho spitaliz at i o ns with acute kidney injury (a c ute kidney injury 184
networ k, S t age 1- 3) 185
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1 4
Renal replacement therapy 186
When acute kidney injur y was pr e s ent , renal replac em ent t herapy (R RT) was perfor med in 187
3.443 hos pit al izations, 20 ,5% of h os pit al izations with AKI and 2,2% of a ll C O V ID-19 188
asso ciated hospitalizations. Furth erm or e, when RRT was condu cted, m ec h anical ventilat ion 189
was need ed i n 2.380 (69,1 %) ca s e s. The modality of r enal replace ment t h erapy was 190
inter m ittent R RT in 230 ( 6,7% ) , and continuous o r p rolongend intermitt end RRT in 3.213 191
(93,3%) hospitaliz at i o ns , re spec t iv ely. In 828 (24, 0%) ho s pitalizations mor e t han on e 192
pro c edur e c o de i n dic at i n g RR T w a s present. 193
Chr onic kidney di s ea se (C KD St ages 3 to 5) was present in 23.380 ( 15. 2 % ) hospitaliz at ions 194
with A KI. We ob served 3.638 (21 ,7% ) hospitaliza t ions with AK I and CKD S tage G3, in 1.4 90 195
(8.9%) hospitalizations C KD G4 w a s pr evalent and 396 (2,4 % ) had CKD G5, r espec t iv ely. 196
In-hospital mortality 197
198
For all hos pit al izations w it h C O V ID-19, the in-ho s pital mortali ty amoun t e d t o 19 ,7% (n= 199
30.300). O f these, 58, 2% (n= 17.635) were m en and 41,8% (n=12.665) we r e women (Table 200
2), r es pectively. The relat i ve ris k fo r in-hospital mortality fo r men amo un t ed t o 1,30 (95%CI 201
1,27-1,3 3) comp ared to women ( S 3 Table). The A S R for in-ho s pital mo rtali ty wa s 4 7,7 202
(95%CI 47, 2- 48,3) per 100. 000 per so n year s. M o s t death s (51 1,2 per 100. 000 per s on year s ) 203
were observed in t he age g r oup over 8 0 year s of a ge ( F ig S1). When AK I was present, 9 .717 204
died, accounting fo r 57,9% of deaths in this grou p (Table 2), t he relati ve ris k f or in-ho s pital 205
mor tali ty was 3, 87 (95% CI 3,8 0-3,9 4) when AKI occurred (Table 3). M oreover, when 206
hemodialysis was perfor med, 2.891 died, which amo unts t o 61,4% of al l hospitaliz at ions 207
with RRT. 208
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209
Length of stay 210
The mean length of s t ay (LOS) for hos pit ali zations with C OVID-1 9 was 1 1,3 da y s ( S D 1 1,9). 211
When acute kidney i n jury wa s code d, t he LO S incr ea sed to 18,4 day s ( SD 16,9) . For c ase s 212
that had a n IC U sta y the mean LO S w as 1 8, 3 d ay s (SD 16 ,7) ( Ta b l e 1) . 213
Time course of hospitalization rates and in-hospital mortality 214
215
The age- standar diz ed hos p i t aliz ation rates f or C O V ID -19 took a b i m odal course dur ing the 216
observation p eriod. The first peak of A SR occ u rred i n Apri l 202 0 (23,95 p er 100.000 per s on 217
years (95 %CI 23 ,58-24, 33) ), after th e ASR r os e steadily beginning in Feb ruar y . Sub sequent ly , 218
ASR for COVID-1 9 ho s pitalizations peak ed ag ain in N o v emb er 2020 (7 2,82 per 1 00.0 00 219
person years (95% CI 72, 17-73,4 8) ). In comparison to t he first peak , ASR ro s e steadily f or two 220
mont hs bef ore reaching the highest r at es (Fig 2A). 221
The A S R for AKI and AK I-re lated mo rt ali t y took a flatter cur v e, but o v erall fol low a s imilar 222
bimodal course. The ASR fo r AKI and AK I-relat ed m ortal ity r eac hed t heir peak in Mar c h 2 020 223
(for AK I 3,4 per 100.000 p erson years (95% CI 3,27-3, 55), which wa s al s o when AKI- rela ted 224
mor tali ty reached 2,07 (95 %CI 1 ,96- 2 ,18), respe ctively ) . In N ovember 2020 ASR tipp e d ag ain 225
when ASR fo r AKI stood at 8,07 per 100.000 per s o n year s (95 %CI 7,8 5-8 ,2 9), and the A SR for 226
AKI- relat ed mortality rose to 4,65 (95 % C I 4 ,4 9-4,8 2)) (Fig 2A). 227
The standard i zed r a t e ra tios (SRR) fo r A KI and AKI -re lated m or talit y wit h t he overa ll A S R f or 228
CO VID -19 hospitaliz at ions in the denom ina tor, ac t ual ly decr ea sed t hroughout the 229
observation period (Fig 2B) and r emained lower in autum n t han t hey wer e in s pr ing . In 230
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contr as t to t his f i n ding, the A SR and in par ticular th e SRR for overall mort ality in C O V ID-19 231
hospitaliz at ions r os e sharply a gain as early as Sept ember 2020 (Fig 3A and 3B) . 232
The distr ibution of age grou p s var i ed thr oughout the observation period . In par tic u l ar , the 233
age group of 80 year s and above wer e most pr ev a lent in the m ont hs of Ap ril, November an d 234
December ( F ig S4). H ospitaliz at i ons in which AKI wa s c od ed, were pro p ort i o nat ely mu c h 235
older, with t he 80 years and abo v e ag e group b ei n g t he most repr es ent ed ( Fig S5) . 236
Fig 2: A) T im e c ou rse of age- standard i zed r ates (per 100.0 0 person years) of o v er al l 237
hospitaliz at ion, AKI and AKI-r el at ed mort a lit y for CO V ID-1 9 in Germany (202 0); B) 238
Standar diz ed r ate r a tios (SRR) of AKI age-s t andardized rat es ( per 100.0 0 person year s) and 239
AKI- relat ed mort al ity in relation t o the overall a ge- s tand ardize d COV ID -19 hos pit ali zation 240
rat e in German y (2 020) 241
Fig 3: A) T im e c ou rse of age- standard i zed r ates (per 100.0 0 person years) of o v er al l 242
hospitaliz at ion and over a ll m o rt a li t y for CO V ID-19 in G er man y (2020); B) Stand a r diz ed rate 243
rat i o s (SRR ) of ov erall mo rta lity age-standar diz ed r ates (per 100.00 p erson yea r s ) in relation 244
to t he ov erall a ge- s tand ardize d CO V I D-19 hospitalization rat e i n Germ a n y ( 2020) 245
Comorbidities 246
The Elixhaus er c o morbidit y index (EC I) varied a mong t he di ffe ren t group s . The mean EC I for 247
all CO V ID-19 a s s o ciated hospitalizations wa s 1, 2 (SD 3,1). For ho s pitalizations requiring 248
i n t e n s i v e c a r e t h e m e a n E C I w a s 1 , 6 ( S D 3 , 8 ) . W h e n a c u t e k i d n e y i n j u r y w a s p r e s e n t t h e E C I 249
increased t o 2 ,0 (SD 3 ,8) . In general, the four mos t comm on coded co mor bidi ties were 250
uncomplicated hyper tensi o n (35,3%), fluid and electr o ly t e dis or ders (20,6 %), uncomp l icated 251
diabetes mell itus (13,3%) and car dia c arr hythmias (10,0%) (Fig 4). When acute kidney injur y 252
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or an IC U stay were coded, cardia c a r rhyth mias were r elative l y mo re pr eva lent comp a r ed t o 253
all hos p i t ali zations with COVID -19 (Fi g S 2 , S3). 254
Fig 4: Relative f requ encies o f c o morbidities in COVID- 19 ho s pit al izations in G er many 2 020. 255
chf: c on gesti ve heart failure; carit: c a rdiac arrhythmias ; v a l v: v a lvular d i s ea s e; pcd: p ulmonary circulati on 256
disorders ; p vd: perip h eral v asc ular d isorde rs; h ypunc : hypertensi on - uncomp lic a t e d; hypc : hypertensi on 257
- comp licated ; para: paral y s is ; ond: other ne urol og i c a l dis orders; c pd: c hronic p ul mona r y diseas e ; 258
d i a b u n c : d i a b e t e s - u n c o m p l i c a t e d ; d i a b c : d i a b e t e s - c o m p l i c a t e d ; h y p o t h y : h y p o t h y r o i d i s m ; l d : l i v e r 259
disea s e ; pud: pe ptic ulcer dis e ase- ex c l u din g ble e di n g ; aids : A I D S / HIV; l y mp h: l ympho ma ; metacanc: 260
meta s tatic c an c e r; s o li dtum: so l id tumou r: w i t h out m etast a s i s ; rheumd: rhe u mato id arthritis/ collaged 261
va s cula r dis e ase ; coag: coa g ul op athy ; obes: obe sity ; w loss : w e ight l o s s; fed: fluid a n d e le c trolyte 262
disorders ; b la ne : bloo d los s a n aem i a; da ne : de f ic i enc y a n aem i a; a l c ohol: a l c ohol ab u s e; drug : dru g a bu s e ; 263
psycho: psycho ses; depre: dep r e s s ion ; 264
265
Discussion
266
Our s t udy f or the first tim e pr ov ides nationwide data on CO V ID-1 9 h ospitalizations and 267
acute kidne y injury in G erm any in 2 0 20. The ke y findings that emerge fr om our data ar e as 268
follows. The highes t pr oport ion of h ospitalizations as s o ciated wi t h C O V I D -19 were in th e 269
age gr oup over 80 years . The g ender distr ibut ion was equal in C OVID -19 related 270
hospitaliz at ion, however, we ob s erve d that m en mor e oft en deve l o ped ac ute kidney injur y 271
(RR 1,49 (95%CI 1, 44-1,53)), needed ICU c are and h a d a higher ris k of in- hospital m orta lit y 272
(RR: 1,30 (95% CI 1 ,27-1,3 3)) than women. O u r results thu s ex hibit a gender bias . Thi s i s 273
con s istent with a meta-analysis inc l uding 3.111 .714 C OVID- 19 a s s o ciated hospitaliz at ions 274
worldwide, which iden tified male sex as a ris k fa ctor for death and ICU-admis sion, d espite 275
the gender ratio being equal at the time of admis sion ( 21). Dif ferent under lying 276
mechanism s - from hor monal, genetic to behavioral ef fects and r i s k fa c t or prevalence – 277
have been dis cu s s ed in t he li t eratu r e (21,22). 278
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Ov er all, 19 % of all h os pit a lizations needed intensiv e care tr eatment. This fraction wa s 279
part ic ular ly high in patient s with acute kidney injury. This finding is in line with other s t udies 280
(23,24) . Ther e are no cl ear ly defined criter ia fo r ICU admi s s ion in C O V I D-19 hospitaliz ed 281
patient s . Germany po s se sses t he h ighes t c apacit y of i n tensi ve care beds in all OE CD-282
countr ies . D es pit e t he pr esumably higher availa b i l it y of ICU capa city, this f ac t did not lead to 283
higher ut i lization of these c ap a cities. This could be an indicator t hat t he percent a ge of 284
critically ill patient s was similar compar ed to di fferent countr ies (23) . 285
O c cur ren ce of AKI con siderably differ s in previous studies, part ly du e t o a diff erent 286
definiti o n o f AKI. Our anal ysi s s howe d that 10.9% of all ho s pitalizatio ns experienced acute 287
kidney i n j u ry. The incidence of AKI in this nat i o nal series is lower than what has been 288
repo rted i n regionally confined stu die s f rom t h e Unit ed Stat es ( 8,9,23). A meta - a n a lysi s by 289
Ga b a r re et al. (2) r endered si m il ar r es ult s to our figur es . The y ob served an a ver ag e AKI 290
incidence of 11% (95% CI 8–1 7%) ov er all, wi t h highest ranges in the c r itically ill (23% (95%CI 291
14– 35%)). Nevert hel es s, the a ge s t ructur e, ris k f a c t or pr ev alence and th e burden of CO V ID-292
19 during the o bs er v at i on period di ffer relevan tly between count r ies and the AKI rate is 293
ther efo re on l y compar able t o a li mite d extend. 294
A lar ge p ropo r tion of pa t ie n ts with acute kidney inju ry suffered s evere ki d ney injury (A KIN 295
Stage 3: 40,6 %) , this is con si s t ent wi th prev ious findings (9). In the gr oup of h os pit al ization 296
with AKI 49 ,9% requir ed ICU adm is s ion compar ed to 15,2 % of patients witho ut A KI. The 297
relativ e r is k t o be tr ea ted in an ICU w as 3 ,27 f or AK I pat ients. M oreove r, i n th e gr oup wi th 298
AKI, 42, 0 % requir ed mechanical ve n tilati on. D ata fr om t he early phase of t he pandemic in 299
New Yor k state estimat ed that 53,6% of AKI pat i en ts needed in vasi ve ve nt il at i on (10) . This 300
higher num bers are lik ely ref lec t i ve o f m ore sev er e d is ease outcome s in patients with AKI. 301
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RRT wa s r equired in 2,2% o f all hos pitalizations. Amo ng patien t s wi t h A KI 20, 5% r equired 302
RRT. Thi s figure i s c on sistent with d a t a from var i o us studies (6,9 ,25). The major ity (88,5%) of 303
the RRT wa s per formed in t he intens ive c are unit. 69, 1 % of all patient s r equiring dial ysi s 304
needed i n v asive ven tilat ion. Simi lar f i n dings w er e r eported in a mu lti -cent er cohor t stud y 305
fr om th e United S t a tes (6). Pr ev iou s studies sugge sted t hat t here is an asso cia t ion between 306
mechanical vent il at ion, AKI and RRT. R RT often occur s aroun d time of in t u bation, sug ge s t i n g 307
a role for a ltered hemodynamics in this situat ion ( 6,10). Hence, vasop r es sor s are often 308
initiat ed ar ound this time. 309
The over al l in-hospital m o rtal ity for CO V ID-19 a ssoci at ed hospitalizat ions vary a cros s 310
different count ries and coho rts, s h o w ing dif ferences i n t es t ing and case identification, 311
variable th r es holds for h os pit a lizati on and staff capacities . Ther efore, diff er ences in in-312
hospital mort a l it y r anged bet ween 1 5 t o 20% (26,27) . Our analy s i s sh owed that 30.300 313
(19.7%) o f hospitaliz ation s with C O V ID -19 ult ima tely decea sed, of 154.17 0 initia lly adm it ted 314
to hospital. In-hospital m orta lit y was 57. 9% among patients wit h AK I versus 15% amon g 315
those wi t hout AKI. This f i n ding under lines the poo r pr ognosis of these pat ients and the 316
sev er ity of disea se. 317
The age-standar diz ed hos p i t ali zation rate due to COVID- 19 in 2020 wa s bim odall y s haped, 318
with peak rat es i n Apr i l and N ovem b er. This o bs er v at ion is congruen t with the inci d enc e 319
figures r eport ed by th e Robert Koch In s t i t ute ( 28). The f irst peak with inc r eas in g m ortalit y 320
rat es in M ar ch and Apr i l wa s followed by a de cline in mor tality r ates a nd a concomitant 321
decrease in hospital admiss ions. Similar r es u l t s hav e a lr eady been d emons t rated in v a r ious 322
studies fr om ot her c o untries. In a dat a-analysi s fr om t he Unit ed S t ates a decr ea se i n the 323
risk-adju sted mor tal ity was ob served, ranging fr om 16.56 % to 9.29% in the early per iod of 324
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this stud y (J anuary t hrough A pril 202 0) compared wit h the la t er pe r iod ( M ay thr ough June 325
2020) (2 9). Further , national ICU data fr om the Unit ed Kingdo m – pub lis hed a s a prepr int up 326
to now - conf i rmed thi s finding. The a uth ors found a redu c t i o n in m ort al it y r ates fro m 41,4 % 327
in March 20 20 to 24 ,8% in June 2 020 (30). The under lying reason fo r t he dec r eas e of 328
mor tali ty r a t es i s not obvious and cert ai n l y multifactor i al. O ne i m port a n t factor was 329
certainly th e c on comit ant decline in the incidence rate in t he UK and the U S. For ex am ple, a 330
large US s t udy of health i n s ur anc e d a t a, involv ing more t han 38.517 pati ent s , r eveal ed tha t 331
the s t rongest det erminant of i mprovements in in-hospital outcome wa s a d ecline in 332
communit y rates of inf ection (29) . Other reasons might be a s hif t i n dem ographics , 333
experience in physici an s t o early dia gnose and t reat C O V ID-19 patients, hospitals and staff 334
became les s overwhelmed dur i n g time. In our data during the s e cond peak in COV ID-19 335
hospitaliz at ions , whic h wa s more pronoun c ed than the f i r s t , th e in-hosp ital m orta lity rate 336
increased s t eadil y f rom Sept ember to December and exc eeded the CO VI D -19 asso ciated in-337
hospital mor tality in M arch and A pril mar kedly (5,36 per 10 0.000 person year s in A pril and 338
16,15 per 100 .0 00 p erson year s in D e c emb er). One c an on l y spe cula t e about th e f ac t ors that 339
led t o th i s devel opm ent. One, b ut cert ainly not the o nly, ex p l anat ion co uld b e a d ifferent 340
age dis t ribution of pat i ents adm itte d to t he hos pit al with a higher proport ion o f olde r 341
patient s in November and D ecember, as in our data ( F ig S 4, Fi g S 5) . F u rther , multiple factor s 342
might have influenced in- hos p i t al m or tali ty. The in creas in g number of patients in need of 343
critical care could hav e overwhelmed h os pit al s r e gi o nal ly, which happen ed fo r example in 344
Sax o ny, G er man y in D e cember 2020. A s alr eady mentioned, an Americ an s t udy ha s s hown 345
that hos pit al s did be tt er when t he pr eva lence o f COVID -19 in their s ur rounding 346
communit i es w as lower (29). Anot he r c ont ribut ing factor could hav e be en s t aff shor tages 347
driven b y CO V ID-19 infections, school lockdown s, quar a n tine regulat i o ns and the neces s it y 348
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to t ake c ar e of relativ es infected with C O V ID-19 or in quarant ine. I n contr as t to the 349
developmen t dis cu s s ed above, th e ASR for AKI and AKI -rela ted m ortali ty had a 350
dispropor tionate ly smaller increase and were alr eady dec lining in D ecember. The a ge 351
distribut ion in our cohor t was s im ilar among all hospital ized patients , with a higher 352
pro porti o n of el d erly patient s i n the s e cond p eak in O c t ober, November and D e c em ber in 353
comparison to F eb ruary, M ar ch and Apr i l. Thu s , diff erences in age distr ib ution is not a good 354
explanation f or this finding (S4 Fig and S5) . At t his point , it must be s aid again th a t multip le 355
factor s could h a ve inf luenc ed the A S R for AKI und AKI-r ela ted mort ality. Ap art from 356
differences in th e p atient population or age distribut ion, change s in th e t reatm ent strategy - 357
e.g., th e early u se of dr ug ther apies f or pat ien ts with an incr eased r isk of s evere C O V ID-19 358
course s . 359
The mean length of s ta y (L OS - di scharged or dead) of all patients w as 11,3 da ys and 360
increased w it h AKI to 18,4 d a ys. LO S varies i n d i f feren t s t udies , and - according to a 361
s ystemat ic r ev iew by Rees et al. (31) - the median LOS was 14 da y s in Chin a, c o mpared with 362
5 (IQR 3–9) day s outside of China. Similar f igur es wer e r eport ed by Fi sher et al. (8). This m ay 363
be explained by many differences in c r iteria fo r ad miss ion and d i s char ge between count ries , 364
and d i f fe rent tim ings in the cour s e of t he pandemic. H ospital capaci t ies in G er many were 365
not o v er whe lmed by the pandem i c, and t he pr ess u re to dischar ge patients might have b een 366
lower. The m os t c om prehensive a nalysis of G er man patient s t o dat e included 10.021 367
patient s with a mean L OS of 1 4, 3 d a ys (32). This w a s longer than i n our analy si s , an 368
explanation fo r the dis cr epancy co uld be timing of data collec t ion. Karagiannidis et a l. 369
collec t ed their data at t he beginning o f th e pandem ic. D ue to an increasing experience in 370
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tr eating C O V ID-19 patient s and new tr eatmen t op t ions, t he lengt h o f stay c onsequent ly 371
declined. 372
The ob s er ve d comor bidities varied between the differ ent gr oups. H yper tension, dia b etes 373
melli tus, fluid and e lectrolyt e dis o rd ers and c ar diac arrhyt hmias w er e the most commo nly 374
coded comor bidities . Th i s finding is plausible, as t hes e ar e the mo s t c om mon comor bidi ties 375
in patients with chronic kidney diseas e (3 3) and l ikewi se kno wn risk fac t or s for 376
hospitaliz at ion wit h C O V ID-19 (34) . Car dia c arr h yt hmias be came more pr ev alen t in 377
hospitaliz at ions w it h AKI. Cardiac arrh yt hmias are a common f inding in COVID -19, in 378
part ic ular w it h an i n c r eas ing number of comorb i d i ties (35) . 379
Str engths and limit ations 380
The major s t rength of th i s study is th at we provide a nat i o nwi d e popula ti on- bas ed v iew on 381
CO VID -19 ho s pit al izations with a c ut e k idn ey injur y in Germany . W e re t rieved DRG-data 382
covering virt ually every hospital in Germany. In th i s stud y, we u se r outine h os pit al ization 383
data, which is lac king c linical detail. T his might lead t o confound i n g t hat we could not adjust 384
for . The InEK provides aggre gated data du e to da ta safety pr ec aut ions , whi ch is f ully 385
anonymized. It is , th erefor e, possi b l e that th i s c ould lead t o bias cause d by readmis s ion, 386
thou gh this pos sibil it y i s limited, b ec ause of the s ever i t y of most ca s e s a nd our efforts to 387
exc lud e readmis s ions fr om the dat aset . Another imp or tant f ac t to consid er, when anal yzi n g 388
rou tine dat a , is the ob s er v at i o n peri od . In ou r analysis t he observation period ends in the 389
midst of the second wave of the CO VID -19 pandem i c in G er many. Thi s w ill lead t o bias, as 390
the outcome of thes e c a se s remains unknown, i n part i cular for hospitaliz at i o ns i n the la st 391
mont h of the observation p eriod. 392
393
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394
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515
516
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Supporting information 517
S1 Fig . A ge- s pecific mort ali t y rates of CO VID- 19 hos p i t ali zations in G er many 202 0 (per 518
100.000 per s on year s) 519
S2 Fig. Relative freq u enc ies of com orbidi ties in COVID -19 hospitalizat ions w it h AKI in 520
Germany 2 020. 521
chf: c on gesti ve heart failure; carit: c a rdiac arrhythmias ; v a l v: v a lvular d i s ea s e; pcd: p ulmonary circulati on 522
disorders ; p vd: perip h eral v asc ular d isorde rs; h ypunc : hypertensi on - uncomp lic a t e d; hypc : hypertensi on 523
- comp licated ; para: paral y s is ; ond: other ne urol og i c a l dis orders; c pd: c hronic p ul mona r y diseas e; 524
d i a b u n c : d i a b e t e s - u n c o m p l i c a t e d ; d i a b c : d i a b e t e s - c o m p l i c a t e d ; h y p o t h y : h y p o t h y r o i d i s m ; l d : l i v e r 525
disea s e ; pud: pe ptic ulcer dis e ase- ex c l u din g ble e di n g ; aids : A I D S / HIV; l y mp h: l ympho ma ; metacanc: 526
meta s tatic c an c e r; s o li dtum: so l id tumou r: w i t h out m etast a s i s ; rheumd: rhe u mato id arthritis/ collaged 527
va s cula r dis e ase ; coag: coa g ul op athy ; obes: obe sity ; w loss : w e ight l o s s; fed: fluid a n d e le c trolyte 528
disorders ; b la ne : bloo d los s a n aem i a; da ne : de f ic i enc y a n aem i a; a l c ohol: a l c ohol ab u s e; drug : d r ug a b us e ; 529
psycho: psycho ses; depre: dep r e s s ion ; 530
531
S3 Fig. Relative frequencies of comorbidi t ies in C O V ID-19 hospitaliz at i o ns with ICU 532
tr eatmen t in Germany 2020. 533
chf: c on gesti ve heart failure; carit: c a rdiac arrhythmias ; v a l v: v a lvular d i s ea s e; pcd: p ulmonary circulati on 534
disorders ; p vd: perip h eral v asc ular d isorde rs; h ypunc : hypertensi on - uncomp lic a t e d; hypc : hypertensi on 535
- comp licated ; para: paral y s is ; ond: other ne urol og i c a l dis orders; c pd: c hronic p ul mona r y diseas e ; 536
d i a b u n c : d i a b e t e s - u n c o m p l i c a t e d ; d i a b c : d i a b e t e s - c o m p l i c a t e d ; h y p o t h y : h y p o t h y r o i d i s m ; l d : l i v e r 537
disea s e ; pud: pe ptic ulcer dis e ase- ex c l u din g ble e di n g ; aids : A I D S / HIV; l y mp h: l ympho ma ; metacanc: 538
meta s tatic c an c e r; s o li dtum: so l id tumou r: w i t h out m etast a s i s ; rheumd: rhe u mato id arthritis/ collaged 539
va s cula r dis e ase ; coag: coa g ul op athy ; obes: obe sity ; w loss : w e ight l o s s; fed: fluid a n d e le c trolyte 540
disorders ; b la ne : bloo d los s a n aem i a; da ne : de f ic i enc y a n aem i a; a l c ohol: a l c ohol ab u s e; drug : dru g a bu s e ; 541
psycho: psycho ses; depre: dep r e s s ion ; 542
543
S4 Fig . Per centage distribu tion of age gr oups during th e ob s er va t ion period (Ov er all CO V ID-544
19) 545
S5 Fig . Per c en tage di s tr ibution of age gr oups d uring the observation per iod (AKI) 546
S1 Table. L ist of ICD -10- GM and O PS Codes, ver s ion 2020 547
S2 Table. Contingen cy table AKI by sex 548
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S3 Table. Contingen cy table in-hospital mor tal ity by s ex 549
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