Renal Failure is Associated With Increased Mortality and Hospital Utilization in Patients Admitted With Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

Goals: We aimed to investigate the mortality and hospital utilization outcomes of hospitalized nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) patients with and without kidney failure in a nationwide cohort.

Background: NASH is a common medical condition associated with significant morbidity and mortality. A paucity of data exists regarding the impact of kidney failure (defined as acute and chronic kidney failure) on outcomes of NASH hospitalizations.

Materials and methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the 2016 Nationwide Inpatient Sample dataset of adult patients hospitalized for NASH, stratified for the presence of renal failure. The primary outcome was inpatient mortality, predictors were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. Secondary outcomes were the length of stay and mean total hospitalization charges.

Results: The overall sample included 7,135,090 patients. Among 6855 patients admitted for NASH, 598 or 8.7% had comorbid kidney failure. After multivariate regression analysis, NASH patients with renal failure had increased in-hospital mortality [odds ratio=28.72, 95% confidence interval (CI): 8.99-91.73], length of stay (β=3.02, 95% CI: 2.54-3.5), total hospital charges (β=$37,045, 95% CI: $31,756.18-$42,335.62). Positive predictors of mortality in the renal failure group were Charlson Comorbidity Index ≥3 [adjusted odds ratio (aOR)=3.46, 95% CI: 1.04-11.51], variceal bleeding (aOR=3.02, 95% CI: 1.06-8.61), and hepatic encephalopathy (aOR=26.38, 95% CI: 1.29-540.56). Predictors of decreased mortality were Medicaid (aOR=0.047, 95% CI: 0.28-0.79) and private insurance (aOR=0.56, 95% CI: 0.38-0.83).

Conclusions: The prevalence of renal failure in NASH hospitalizations is associated with markedly increased mortality, hospital costs, and length of stay. As a result, clinicians should be vigilant in treating kidney failure in this population.