Randomized Trials Using Provincial Health Numbers for Group Assignment.

Purpose: Using data from Ontario, Canada, this report shows how provincial government-assigned health card numbers can be used for individual-level randomization in large pragmatic trials. We describe how health card numbers are assigned and analyze the distribution of health card digits in a trial setting. We then provide an example of how they can be used for randomization and discuss the methodological and practical considerations of the approach.

Higher dose antiviral therapy for herpes infections is associated with a risk of serious adverse events in older adults with chronic kidney disease.

Antiviral use has been linked to encephalopathy and elevated serum creatinine concentrations in individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in case reports. Using linked healthcare data in Ontario, we conducted a population-based cohort study on adults aged ≥66 years not receiving dialysis and newly prescribed oral acyclovir, valacyclovir, or famciclovir in the outpatient setting (2008-2022) at higher versus lower doses. The primary composite outcome, a hospital visit with encephalopathy or acute kidney injury (AKI) within 14 days of initiating antiviral treatment, was examined in a primary cohort.

Pregnancy Outcomes in Living Kidney Donors: Protocol of a Population-Based Cohort Study in Three Canadian Provinces.

Background: A substantial proportion of living kidney donors are women of childbearing age. Some prior studies report a higher risk of gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia in living kidney donors compared with nondonors. Further research is needed to better quantify the risk of adverse maternal, fetal/infant, and neonatal outcomes attributable to living kidney donation.

Thirty-day risk of digoxin toxicity among older adults co-prescribed trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole versus amoxicillin: A population-based cohort study.

Importance: Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) may increase digoxin concentration, a medication with a narrow therapeutic index. Small changes in digoxin concentration could predispose individuals to the risk of toxicity.

Objective: To characterize the risk of digoxin toxicity in older adults taking digoxin following co-prescription of TMP-SMX compared with co-prescription of amoxicillin.

COVID-19 vaccine uptake among Ontario physicians: a descriptive population-based retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: To determine COVID-19 vaccine uptake among physicians in Ontario, Canada from 14 December 2020 to 13 February 2022.

Design: Population-based retrospective cohort study.

Setting: All registered physicians in Ontario, Canada using data from linked provincial administrative healthcare databases.

Hypertension and Kidney Function After Living Kidney Donation.

Importance: Recent guidelines call for better evidence on health outcomes after living kidney donation.

Objective: To determine the risk of hypertension in normotensive adults who donated a kidney compared with nondonors of similar baseline health. Their rates of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline and risk of albuminuria were also compared.

Implementation of a One-Day Living Kidney Donor Assessment Clinic to Improve the Efficiency of the Living Kidney Donor Evaluation: Program Report.

Purpose Of Program: A key barrier to becoming a living kidney donor is an inefficient evaluation process, requiring more than 30 tests (eg, laboratory and diagnostic tests), questionnaires, and specialist consultations. Donor candidates make several trips to hospitals and clinics, and often spend months waiting for appointments and test results. The median evaluation time for a donor candidate in Ontario, Canada, is nearly 1 year.

High-Throughput Computing to Automate Population-Based Studies to Detect the 30-Day Risk of Adverse Outcomes After New Outpatient Medication Use in Older Adults with Chronic Kidney Disease: A Clinical Research Protocol.

Background: Safety issues are detected in about one third of prescription drugs in the years following regulatory agency approval. Older adults, especially those with chronic kidney disease, are at particular risk of adverse reactions to prescription drugs. This protocol describes a new approach that may identify credible drug-safety signals more efficiently using administrative health care data.

Low-Dose Methotrexate and Serious Adverse Events Among Older Adults With Chronic Kidney Disease.

Importance: Low-dose methotrexate is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. Due to its kidney elimination, better evidence is needed to inform its safety in adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Objectives: To compare the 90-day risk of serious adverse events among adults with CKD who started low-dose methotrexate vs those who started hydroxychloroquine and to compare the risk of serious adverse events among adults with CKD starting 2 distinct doses of methotrexate vs those starting hydroxychloroquine.

Effect of a Novel Multicomponent Intervention to Improve Patient Access to Kidney Transplant and Living Kidney Donation: The EnAKT LKD Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) have the best chance for a longer and healthier life if they receive a kidney transplant. However, many barriers prevent patients from receiving a transplant.

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of a multicomponent intervention designed to target several barriers that prevent eligible patients from completing key steps toward receiving a kidney transplant.

Effect of Colchicine on the Risk of Perioperative Acute Kidney Injury: Clinical Protocol of a Substudy of the Colchicine for the Prevention of Perioperative Atrial Fibrillation Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Inflammation during and after surgery can lead to organ damage including acute kidney injury. Colchicine, an established inexpensive anti-inflammatory medication, may help to protect the organs from pro-inflammatory damage. This protocol describes a kidney substudy of the colchicine for the prevention of perioperative atrial fibrillation (COP-AF) study, which is testing the effect of colchicine versus placebo on the risk of atrial fibrillation and myocardial injury among patients undergoing thoracic surgery.

Health Services Use and Outcomes for Hospital Admissions With a Major Cardiovascular Event Recorded in Health Care Administrative Data in Patients Receiving Maintenance Hemodialysis: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Administrative data are used in studies of hemodialysis care to report cardiovascular-related hospitalizations. Showing recorded events are associated with significant health care resource use and poor outcomes would confirm that administrative data algorithms identify clinically meaningful events.

Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the 30-day health service use and outcomes when a hospital admission with myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, or ischemic stroke is recorded in administrative databases.

The effect of micro-particle curcumin on chronic kidney disease progression: the MPAC-CKD randomized clinical trial.

Background: Curcumin is a commonly used herbal supplement with anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic properties. Animal studies and small human trials suggest that curcumin reduces albuminuria in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Micro-particle curcumin is a new, more bioavailable formulation of curcumin.

Magnesium and Fracture Risk in the General Population and Patients Receiving Dialysis: A Narrative Review.

Purpose Of Review: Magnesium is an essential mineral for bone metabolism, but little is known about how magnesium intake alters fracture risk. We conducted a narrative review to better understand how magnesium intake, through supplementation, diet, or altering the concentration of dialysate magnesium, affects mineral bone disease and the risk of fracture in individuals across the spectrum of kidney disease.

Sources Of Information: Peer-reviewed clinical trials and observational studies.

Enhance Access to Kidney Transplantation and Living Kidney Donation (EnAKT LKD): Statistical Analysis Plan of a Registry-Based, Cluster-Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Enhance Access to Kidney Transplantation and Living Kidney Donation (EnAKT LKD) is a quality improvement intervention designed to enhance access to kidney transplantation and living kidney donation. We conducted a cluster-randomized clinical trial to evaluate the effect of the intervention versus usual care on completing key steps toward receiving a kidney transplant.

Objective: To prespecify the statistical analysis plan for the EnAKT LKD trial.

The Living Kidney Donor Safety Study: Protocol of a Prospective Cohort Study.

Background: Living kidney donation is considered generally safe in healthy individuals; however, there is a need to better understand the long-term effects of donation on blood pressure and kidney function.

Objectives: To determine the risk of hypertension in healthy, normotensive adults who donate a kidney compared with healthy, normotensive non-donors with similar indicators of baseline health. We will also compare the 2 groups on the rate of decline in kidney function, the risk of albuminuria, and changes in health-related quality of life.

Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and the risk of a hospital encounter with hyperkalemia: a matched population-based cohort study.

Background: Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) can cause hyperkalemia by reducing renal potassium excretion. We assessed the risk of hyperkalemia after initiating TMP-SMX versus amoxicillin and determined if this risk is modified by a patient's baseline kidney function [estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)].

Methods: We conducted a population-based cohort study in Ontario, Canada involving adults ≥66 years of age newly treated with TMP-SMX (n = 58 999) matched 1:1 with those newly treated with amoxicillin (2008-2020).

Association of Higher-Dose Fluoroquinolone Therapy With Serious Adverse Events in Older Adults With Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease.

Importance: Population-based data are needed to inform the safe prescribing of fluoroquinolone antibiotics to patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Objective: To quantify the 14-day risk of a hospital visit with nervous system and/or psychiatric disorders, hypoglycemia, or a collagen-associated event in patients with advanced CKD newly prescribed a fluoroquinolone at a higher vs a lower dose.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This population-based cohort study in Ontario, Canada (January 1, 2008, to March 17, 2020) used linked health care data to identify new users of fluoroquinolone antibiotics.

SARS-CoV-2 testing, infection and outcomes among Ontario physicians: a descriptive population-based cohort study.

Background: Health care workers have a higher risk of acquiring SARS-CoV-2 infection than the general population. Our study reports on SARS-CoV-2 testing, infection and associated outcomes in Ontario physicians before SARS-CoV-2 vaccination became available on Dec. 14, 2020.

Initiation Dose of Allopurinol and the Risk of Severe Cutaneous Reactions in Older Adults With CKD: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

Rationale & Objective: Allopurinol should be started at lower doses in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) to avoid adverse effects. We examined the risk of severe cutaneous reactions in older adults with CKD who were newly prescribed allopurinol at varied doses.

Study Design: Population-based cohort study using linked health care databases.

Partnering with Patients to Enhance Access to Kidney Transplantation and Living Kidney Donation.

Kidney transplantation gives many patients with kidney failure a longer and healthier life. Unfortunately, some transplant-eligible patients will never receive one. In this paper, we describe how patients and researchers collaborated on new strategies and programs to enhance access to kidney transplantation and living kidney donation.