Objective:

To evaluate factors associated with Pregnancy-related KidneyInjury(PRAKI) inwomen admitted to high dependency care unit at Women and Newborn Hospital in Lusaka, ZambiaMethodology:This was an unmatched case-control study conducted in the high-dependency care unit at Women and Newborn Hospital in Lusaka. Study participantswererecruitedconsecutivelybyconveniencesampling.Participants'medicalrecords were reviewed to capture serum creatinine levels;whileastructuredquestionnairewasadministeredto eligible andconsentedstudy participants to capture data on sociodemographic, obstetric, and medical factors. Serum creatinine levels above 84μmol/l were used as criteria for classifying PRAKI. Excel was used for data cleaningandStatav13usedforanalysis.Descriptive statistics were done for all variables followed by univariate and multivariable logistic regression to determine association. 95% CI was usedand p value of<0.05 was consideredsignificant.

Results:

Thestudy comprised of185 study participants, split into 85 women with PRAKI (cases) and 100 women without PRAKI (controls). The median age was 29 years with 11years interquartile range. 75.3%of the study participants wereinmarriagerelationships.Pre-existinghypertension was the most prevalent medical condition in both the cases (51.8%) and the controls (38%). Sickle celldisease was much less common at 1.2% in cases and 8% in controls. Among the obstetric conditions, preeclampsia was the most common condition at 77.6% and 60% in cases and controls respectively. Eclampsia was found in 38.8% of cases and 11% of controls. Sepsis was least common at 4.7% of cases. This study found that obstetricfactorssuch as eclampsia (AOR = 5.12, 95% CI [2.14 – 12.23]; p≤0.0001), preeclampsia (AOR = 2.46, 95% CI [1.12 – 5.39]; p = 0.025), and postpartum haemorrhage were associated with the development of PRAKI. Medical conditions were not associated with PRAKI.