Ramadan fasting outcome among high-risk patients.

Background:The literature is building for guiding the decision for Chronic Kidney Diseases, CKD, patients fasting Ramadan. However, it is mainly considering one outcome, the impact on renal function. This study aims to assess factors influencing Ramadan fasting in patients with CKD.Method:This is a prospective before and after cohort study. CKD patients were consoled regarding fasting as part of a quality project and followed Ramadan for renal function status, fasting Ramadan, and other significant outcomes. Results:Of these 360 patients who attended the pre-Ramadan consultation, 304 were reachable after Ramadan, and 67.1% of them reported that they did fast, 4.9% attempted to fast but had to stop, and 28% did not fast a single day. They were 55.3% females, compared to 44.7% males (69.9%). They were; stage 3A (68.1%), stage 3B 21.7%, stage 4 7.9% and only 2% were stage 5. Of those who did fast, 11.1% had a drop of eGFR of 20% or more. While those who did not fast (16.7%) had a similar drop. On the other hand, among the few who attempted to fast and had to stop fasting, half had a drop in eGFR of more than 20%. In linear regression, when controlling for the CKD stage, age, gender, and comorbidity, the only predictor of drop-in eGFR was a higher percentage of the drop since last year and a lower eGFR before Ramadan. There were 17 (5.6%) significant events, including one death. More significant events were among the group who did fast, where 50% experienced an adverse event, while 16.7% were among the group who did not fast and 11.1% were among those who did fast. Conclusion:Fasting was not a significant determinantal factor in renal function deterioration in the studies population, neither was it having any significant association with adverse events.