Professional paper
BODY MASS PATTERNS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN PATIENTS WITH STABLE KIDNEY TRANSPLANT FUNCTION
TEA VRDOLJAK MARGETA
; Rijeka University Hospital Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Dialysis and Kidney Transplantation, Rijeka, Croatia
NIKA ŠIMIĆ
; University of Rijeka, School of Medicine, Rijeka, Croatia
TULIA MARIA ŠKABIĆ
; University of Rijeka, School of Medicine, Rijeka, Croatia
LIDIJA ORLIĆ
orcid.org/0000-0001-8376-6623
; Rijeka University Hospital Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Dialysis and Kidney Transplantation; University of Rijeka, School of Medicine, Rijeka, Croatia
Abstract
After kidney transplant, a large number of patients gain weight. The COVID-19 pandemic, which occurred in our country in early 2020, changed the way of life and habits of all residents, including transplant patients. The aim of this study was to examine body mass (BM) patterns in patients with stable renal transplant function. The study was retrospective and included 35 patients (19 male and 16 female), mean age 60.7±11.5 years and mean time elapsed from kidney transplantation 9.3±7.1 years. Data were analyzed for 18-month period, from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic (from January 2020 to June 30, 2021). The reference period of 18 months was divided into three intervals of 6 months, and the data used were taken at the beginning and after 6, 12 and 18 months. In all subjects, we monitored BM, calculated body mass index (BMI), laboratory parameters and blood pressure (BP). Laboratory data included urea, creatinine, cholesterol and triglycerides. In addition, antihypertensive therapy and hypolipidemic therapy were followed. All subjects had corticosteroids in the immunosuppressive protocol, and 91.4% of them were on triple immunosuppressive therapy. There was a signifi cant increase in BM and BMI
(p=0.007 and p=0.03, respectively) during the study period. There was no statistically signifi cant increase in BM compared to baseline BM in females. In men, there was a signifi cant increase in BM after 12 and 18 months (p=0.01 and p=0.04, respectively). There were no statistically signifi cant differences in serum urea, creatinine, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels during the follow-up period. There was no statistically signifi cant difference in the mean systolic and diastolic BP values. At the beginning of the study, the mean number of antihypertensives per patient was 2.17 and after 18 months of the pandemic the mean number of antihypertensives increased to 2.54, yielding a statistically signifi cant difference (p=0.002). The number of antihypertensives in therapy increased statistically signifi cantly during the study period in males and females (p=0.01 and p=0.04, respectively). There was no signifi cant difference in the use of hypolipidemic therapy. The results obtained show that the change in life habits due to the COVID-19 pandemic in patients with stable kidney transplant function caused an increase in BM and signifi cantly increased the use of antihypertensive therapy.
Keywords
arterial hypertension; body weight; COVID-19 pandemic; kidney transplantation; obesity
Hrčak ID:
294712
URI
Publication date:
27.2.2023.
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