TITLE:
Association Between Hypoalbuminemia and Mortality in Critically Ill Non-Surgical Adult Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
AUTHORS:
Jackson Rashid Djuma, Eva Tshaba Kashinda, Serge Kapend Matanda, Pascaline Migabo, Olivier Bwemere, Beros Vangu, Assa Eca Kreedom, Michel Manika, Christian Ngandu, Claudine Malonga, Deogratias Mulungulungu, Hassane Njimi, Jean Charles Preiser
KEYWORDS:
Hypoalbuminemia, Mortality, Severe Non-Surgical Adult Patients, Meta-Analysis
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Emergency Medicine,
Vol.13 No.2,
June
27,
2025
ABSTRACT: Purpose: The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess if hypoalbuminemia can predict mortality in critically ill non-surgical adult patients. Methods: We searched on Public Access to Medline (PubMed), Europe PubMed Central (Europe PMC) and ScienceDirect databases for relevant articles published from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2024. We included observational studies of critically ill non-surgical adult patients in European hospitals. We performed the meta-analysis on Review Manager (RevMan Web by Cochrane Collaboration). The adjusted Odds Ratio (OR) for the association between hypoalbuminemia and mortality was extracted from included articles and pooled with 95% confidence intervals (CI). A random effect model was used. Sensitivity analysis was performed on RevMan. Results: We included a total of 9 observational studies with 6846 participants. Hypoalbuminemia was significantly associated with high mortality among critically ill non-surgical adult patients. The pooled OR was: 1.93 95% CI: 1.45, 2.56. Heterogeneity (I2) = 93% P Conclusion: The meta-analysis found that Hypoalbuminemia is a significant predictor of mortality for critically ill non-surgical adult patients. Our results may suggest that great attention should be paid for critically ill non-surgical adult patients with hypoalbuminemia to reduce the bad outcome. Health policies and procedures should include the albumin test for better outcomes.