Risk factors associated with hospitalization and evolution in kidney transplant patients with COVID-19: A single-center retrospective cohort study

Background: The SARS -CoV -2 infection has had a major impact on kidney transplant patients. Our single -center experience aims to analyze the risk factors for affected patient hospitalization and predictors of worse clinical outcome on admission. Material and methods: A retrospective cohort study with kidney transplant patients with positive PCR for SARS -CoV -19 between March 16th 2020 and February 11th 2021 was conducted. Demographic characteristics and clinical and laboratory information on admission was collected and analyzed to assess risk factors related to patient hospitalization and disease evolution. Results: Seventy -six kidney transplant recipients diagnosed with COVID -19 were included and divided into hospitalized (n=48) and non- -hospitalized (n=28) patients. Two hospitalized patients were not taken into account for the analysis due to a lack of data, and the remaining patients were divided into mild -moderate (n=25) and severe pneumonia (n=21). Lasso and multivariate logistic regression demonstrated that age (OR 1.041, p=0.039) and hypertension (OR 4.177, p=0.040) were risk factors for hospitalization, while time after transplant (OR 0.993, p=0.029) decreases the probability of being hospitalized. Analyses also revealed that SpO2 ≤92% on admission (OR 8.954, p= 0.026) and overweight/obesity (OR 13.453, p= 0.001) were related to a worse evolution and severe pneumonia among hospitalized recipients. Seven patients died due to COVID -19 complications. Conclusion: Age and hypertension are risk factors for hospitalization among positive COVID -19 patients, while time after transplant decreases the probability of being hospitalized. Overweight/obesity and levels of SpO2 ≤92% on admission were the main risk factors that could help to predict the severity of COVID -19 disease in our series.