Does estimated glomerular filtration rate predict in-hospital mortality in acutely unwell hospitalized oldest old?

Globally the population of older adults is the fastest growing age group. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is an estimation of true kidney function with lower eGFR associated with higher mortality. However, few studies explore eGFR’s prognostic value in the nonagenarian. We investigated the association between eGFR on admission and mortality among the nonagenarians hospitalised with acute illness. A retrospective analysis of a prospective cohort study included patients aged ≥ 90 admitted into three acute medical assessment units or acute geriatric wards in England and Scotland between November 2008 and January 2009. Association between eGFR and all-cause mortality was evaluated using the Cox proportional hazard models controlling for potential confounders including frailty. 392 patients with mean (SD) 93.0 ± 2.6 years (68.45% women) were included. The median (IQR) eGFR was 26.61 (18.41–40.41) mL/min/1.732. 63 died in in hospital. Low eGFR was not associated with mortality (Hazard ratio (HR) 1.00 (95% CI 0.98–1.02) overall or in sub–group analysis by frailty (HR 0.96 (0.92–1.01)) or by eGFR of ≤30 (HR 1.01 (0.95–1.06). We found no evidence of prognostic value of eGFR in predicting in–hospital mortality in the acutely unwell hospitalised nonagenarians.