Survey Development

The objective of this survey was to provide insights into the opinion of AIC and nephrology physicians regarding the main aspects of AKI in patients with COVID-19: 1) definition and incidence and 2) monitoring and management. We combined these topics into a single questionnaire with three sections to minimize the burden for respondents, since both topics are closely related and would be studied in the same target population.

The questionnaire was built using SurveyMonkey Platinum (SurveyMonkey Inc., San Mateo, CA, USA). The questionnaire consisted of 23 questions in total. All answers could be reviewed and edited until final submission. Information about the survey and its purpose was explained at the beginning of the online survey. Respondents' demographics (including specialty, age, and sex) and the number of beds for COVID 19 in the hospital (wards, semi-intensive care, and intensive care units) were collected in questions 1 to 3. The first section of the questionnaire (questions 4 to 11) focused on the definition of AKI. The second section of the questionnaire (questions 12 to 19) included questions on renal replacement therapy (RRT). The third section of the questionnaire (questions 20 to 23) included topics on extracorporeal blood purification techniques (EBPTs) for the removal of inflammatory mediators.