Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Med.
Sec. Nephrology
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1412689
This article is part of the Research Topic Early Detection Programs for Chronic Kidney Disease: Reducing Risk and Preventing Complications View all 5 articles

Prevalence of undetected chronic kidney disease in high-risk middleaged patients in primary care: a cross-sectional study

Provisionally accepted
Andrea Siebenhofer Andrea Siebenhofer 1,2Christine Loder Christine Loder 1*Alexander Avian Alexander Avian 3Elisabeth Platzer Elisabeth Platzer 4Carolin Zipp Carolin Zipp 1Astrid Mauric Astrid Mauric 4Ulrike Spary-Kainz Ulrike Spary-Kainz 1Andrea Berghold Andrea Berghold 3Alexander R. Rosenkranz Alexander R. Rosenkranz 4
  • 1 Institute of General Practice and Evidence-Based Health Services Research, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
  • 2 Institute of General Practice, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt, Germany
  • 3 Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Documentation, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
  • 4 Clinical Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The global health burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) results from both the disease itself and the numerous health problems associated with it. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of previously undetected CKD in middle-aged patients with risk factors for CKD. Identified patients were included in the Styrian nephrology awareness program "kidney.care 2.0" and data on their demographics, risk factors and kidney function were described. Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data derived from the "kidney.care 2.0" study of 40-65 year old patients with at least one risk factor for CKD (hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity or family history of end-stage kidney disease). Participants were considered to have previously undetected CKD if their estimated glomular filtration rate (eGFR) was less than 60 ml/min/1.73 m 2 and/or albumin creatinine ratio (ACR) ≥ 30 mg/g. We calculated the prevalence of previously undetected CKD and performed multivariate analyses. Results: A total of 749 participants were included in this analysis. The prevalence of previously undetected CKD in an at-risk population was estimated at 20.1% (95%CI: 17.1 -23.6). Multivariable analysis showed age (OR 1.06, 95%CI: 1.02 -1.09), diabetes mellitus (OR 1.65, 95%CI: 1.12 -2.30) and obesity (OR: 1.55, 95%CI: 1.04 -2.30) to be independent predictors of CKD. The majority of patients with previously undetected CKD had category A2-A3 albuminuria (121 out of 150). Most patients with previously undetected eGFR < 60 ml/min/1.73 m 2 were in stage G3 (36 out of 39 patients). Conclusion: Pragmatic, targeted, risk-based screening for CKD in primary care successfully identified a significant number of middle-aged patients with previously undetected CKD and addressed the problem of these patients being overlooked for future optimized care. The intervention may slow progression to kidney failure and prevent related cardiovascular events.

    Keywords: Prevalence, Chronic Kidney Disease, Middle-aged, Primary Care, Cross-sectional study

    Received: 11 Apr 2024; Accepted: 29 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Siebenhofer, Loder, Avian, Platzer, Zipp, Mauric, Spary-Kainz, Berghold and Rosenkranz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Christine Loder, Institute of General Practice and Evidence-Based Health Services Research, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.