Reducing major risk factors for chronic kidney disease

Preventing CKD in Developed Countries

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an important public health concern in developed countries because of both the number of people affected and the high cost of care when prevention strategies are not effectively implemented. Prevention should start at the governance level with the institution of multisectoral polices supporting sustainable development goals and ensuring safe and healthy environments. Primordial prevention of CKD can be achieved through implementation of measures to ensure healthy fetal (kidney) development. Public health strategies to prevent diabetes, hypertension, and obesity as risk factors for CKD are important. These approaches are cost-effective and reduce the overall noncommunicable disease burden. Strategies to prevent nontraditional CKD risk factors, including nephrotoxin exposure, kidney stones, infections, environmental exposures, and acute kidney injury (AKI), need to be tailored to local needs and epidemiology. Early diagnosis and treatment of CKD risk factors such as diabetes, obesity, and hypertension are key for primary prevention of CKD. CKD tends to occur more frequently and to progress more rapidly among indigenous, minority, and socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. Special attention is required to meet the CKD prevention needs of these populations. Effective secondary prevention of CKD relies on screening of individuals at risk to detect and treat CKD early, using established and emerging strategies. Within high-income countries, barriers to accessing effective CKD therapies must be recognized, and public health strategies must be developed to overcome these obstacles, including training and support at the primary care level to identify individuals at risk of CKD, and appropriately implement clinical practice guidelines.

Kidney Health for Everyone Everywhere - From Prevention to Detection and Equitable Access to Care

The global burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is rapidly increasing with a projection of becoming the 5^th most common cause of years of life lost globally by 2040. Aggravatingly, CKD is a major cause of catastrophic health expenditure. The costs of dialysis and transplantation consume up to 3% of the annual healthcare budget in high-income countries. Crucially, however, the onset and progression of CKD is often preventable. In 2020, the World Kidney Day campaign highlights the importance of preventive interventions – be it primary, secondary or tertiary. This complementing article focuses on outlining and analyzing measures that can be implemented in every country to promote and advance CKD prevention. Primary prevention of kidney disease should focus on the modification of risk factors and addressing structural abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tracts, as well as exposure to environmental risk factors and nephrotoxins. In persons with pre-existing kidney disease, secondary prevention, including blood pressure optimization and glycemic control, should be the main goal of education and clinical interventions. In patients with advanced CKD, management of co-morbidities such as uremia and cardiovascular disease is a highly recommended preventative intervention to avoid or delay dialysis or kidney transplantation. Political efforts are needed to proliferate the preventive approach. While national policies and strategies for non-communicable diseases might be present in a country, specific policies directed toward education and awareness about CKD screening, management and treatment are often lacking. Hence, there is an urgent need to increase the awareness of the importance of preventive measures throughout populations, professionals and policy makers.

Kidney Health for Everyone Everywhere-From Prevention to Detection and Equitable Access to Care

The global burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is increasing with a projection of becoming the fifth leading cause of years of life lost globally by 2040. CKD is a major cause of catastrophic health expenditure. The costs of dialysis and transplantation consume up to 3% of the entire annual healthcare budget in high-income countries. Crucially, however, both the onset and progression of CKD is potentially preventable. In 2020, the World Kidney Day campaign highlights the importance of preventive interventions-be it primary, i.e. to prevent de novo CKD, or secondary or tertiary, i.e. prevention of worsening early CKD or progression of more advanced CKD to end-stage kidney disease, respectively. Primary prevention should focus on the modification of CKD risk factors and address the structural abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tracts, and exposure to environmental risk factors and nephrotoxins. In persons with pre-existing kidney disease, secondary prevention, including blood pressure optimization, glycemic control and avoiding high-protein high-sodium diet should be the main goal of education and clinical interventions. In patients with moderate to advanced CKD, the management of comorbidities such as uremia and cardiovascular disease along with low-protein diet are among the recommended preventative interventions to avoid or delay dialysis or kidney transplantation. Whereas national policies and strategies for noncommunicable diseases may exist in a country, specific policies directed toward education and awareness about CKD screening, prevention and treatment are often lacking. There is an urgent need to increase awareness for preventive measures throughout populations, professionals and policy makers.

Exploring the putative interactions between chronic kidney disease and chronic periodontitis

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and chronic periodontitis (CP) are both common diseases, which are found disproportionately comorbid with each other and have been reported to have a detrimental effect on the progression of each respective disease. They have an overlap in risk factors and both are a source of systemic inflammation along with a wide selection of immunological and non-specific effects that can affect the body over the lifespan of the conditions. Previous studies have investigated the directionality of the relationship between these two diseases; however, there is a lack of literature that has examined how these diseases may be interacting at the localized and systemic level. This review discusses how oral microorganisms have the ability to translocate and have distal effects and provides evidence for microbial involvement in a systemic disease. Furthermore, it summarizes the reported local and systemic effects of CKD and CP and discusses how the interaction of these effects may be responsible for directionality associations reported.

Association between severe periodontitis and chronic kidney disease severity in predialytic patients: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the association between periodontitis and different severities of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in predialytic patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Demographic, socioeconomic, and medical data of 139 patients from the nephrology service of one university hospital in Porto Alegre, Brazil, were obtained through interview and clinical records. Full-mouth six-sites per tooth periodontal examinations were performed. Associations between periodontitis, stages of CKD, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were estimated by multivariable models adjusted for sex, smoking, vitamin D supplementation, physical activity, and renal treatment duration. CKD was classified based on eGFR (<60 ml/min/1.73 m² ) estimated by the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equation.

RESULTS

Patients with severe periodontitis, compared to those without severe periodontitis, had 2.8 (95% CI: 1.25-6.62) and 3.4 (95% CI: 1.27-9.09) times higher risk of being in stages 4 and 5 of CKD, respectively. Having ≥ 2 teeth with clinical attachment loss (CAL) ≥6 mm increased 3.9 times the risk of being in stage 5 of CKD. Patients with severe periodontitis and ≥2 teeth with CAL ≥ 6 mm had 4.4 ml/min/1.73² and 5.2 ml/min/1.73² lower eGFR (p-values < .05), respectively.

CONCLUSION

Severe periodontitis was associated with poor renal conditions in predialytic CKD patients, strengthening the importance of periodontal evaluation in such patient population.

Effects of Zinc Supplementation on Nutritional Status in Children with Chronic Kidney Disease: A Randomized Trial

BACKGROUND

Zinc is an essential micronutrient for human beings and its deficiency affects their normal growth and development.

OBJECTIVE

The main aim was to evaluate the effect of two doses of zinc supplementation (ZS) on the nutritional status in chronic kidney disease (CKD) children.

METHODS

A randomized-trial multicentric study was conducted in 48 CKD (23 females) patients under 18-years-old, for a year. At random, participants took 30 or 15 mg/day of ZS, respectively. Anthropometric measurements and biochemical analysis were performed. Hypozincemia was determined by serum zinc concentration (SZC) using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The positive or negative change in patients' body mass index (BMI) Z-score, serum albumin, zinc and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were used to evaluate the effect of ZS.

RESULTS

Mean SZC was normal before and after ZS. Despite ZS, there were no significant changes in serum albumin, zinc and CRP levels. A positive and significant association was observed between SZC and serum albumin before (p = 0.000) and after (p = 0.007) ZS. In both groups of ZS, there was a small but positive and significant change in body mass and normalization in BMI Z-score, hypoalbuminemia, hypozincemia and high CRP, especially with 30 mg/day of ZS.

CONCLUSIONS

Zinc supplementation may be beneficial for nutritional status in children and adolescents with CKD.

Impending challenges of the burden of end-stage kidney disease in Australia

Sex and age-specific incidence rates of patients with treated end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) in Australia are comparable to those in European countries, but substantially lower compared with those in the United States, Canada and many Asian countries. The incidence rates of treated ESKD in Australia increase with advancing age; however, the incidence of ESKD is likely to be underestimated because a proportion of patients with ESKD (about 50%) remain untreated. Late referral to nephrologists has reduced over the past decade, temporally associated with improved ESKD recognition. However, late referral still occurs in one in five Australians with ESKD. One in two Australians with ESKD has diabetes, with up to 35% of cases directly attributed to diabetes. Mortality rates for patients with ESKD remain substantially higher compared with the age-matched general population, although there has been a significant improvement in survival over time. Cardiovascular disease and cancer are the two most common causes of death in patients with ESKD.

Clinical consequences of developmental programming of low nephron number

Nephron number in humans varies up to 13-fold, likely reflecting the impact of multiple factors on kidney development, including inherited body size and ethnicity, as well as maternal health and nutrition, fetal exposure to gestational diabetes or preeclampsia and other environmental factors, which may potentially be modifiable. Such conditions predispose to low or high offspring birth weight, growth restriction or preterm birth, which have all been associated with increased risks of higher blood pressures and/or kidney dysfunction in later life. Low birth weight, preterm birth, and intrauterine growth restriction are associated with reduced nephron numbers. Humans with hypertension and chronic kidney disease tend to have fewer nephrons than their counterparts with normal blood pressures or kidney function. A developmentally programmed reduction in nephron number therefore enhances an individual's susceptibility to hypertension and kidney disease in later life. A low nephron number at birth may not lead to kidney dysfunction alone except when severe, but in the face of superimposed acute or chronic kidney injury, a kidney endowed with fewer nephrons may be less able to adapt, and overt kidney disease may develop. Given that millions of babies are born either too small, too big or too soon each year, the population impact of altered renal programming is likely to be significant. Many gestational exposures are modifiable, therefore urgent attention is required to implement public health measures to optimize maternal, fetal, and child health, to prevent or mitigate the consequences of developmental programming, to improve the health future generations.

No increased risk of nephrotoxicity associated with 5-aminosalicylic acid in IBD: a population-based cohort and nested case-control study

BACKGROUND

There is conflicting evidence about nephrotoxicity risk associated with 5-aminosalicylates for treatment of IBD.

AIMS

To determine population-based temporal trends for 5-aminosalicylates and estimated risk of nephrotoxicity associated with 5-aminosalicylate use for ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD).

METHODS

Retrospective cohort and nested case-control study, using the Health Improvement Network primary care database linked to hospital discharge coding for patients in England, 1996-2017. Nephrotoxicity risk analysis was a first recorded renal impairment diagnosis adjusted for key variables and was assessed between 2008 and 2017.

RESULTS

A total of 35 601 patients with prevalent UC or CD were included. The proportion of patients prescribed 5-aminosalicylates fell from 83% in 1996-1999 to 71% in 2012-2015 for UC patients and 64% to 45% for CD patients. Thirty per cent of patients had prolonged 5-aminosalicylate use. Between 2008 and 2017, the incident rate of nephrotoxicity was similar and stable for UC (12.6/1000 person-years) and CD (10.9/1000 person-years) patients. Multivariate analysis showed no evidence for association between current prescription of 5-aminosalicylate and nephrotoxicity in UC or CD patients, comparing ≤ 30 days prescription prior to index vs 31-≤180 days. However, active disease, disease duration, concomitant cardiovascular disease or diabetes and nephrotoxic drug use were independently associated with development of nephrotoxicity in UC and CD.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the paucity of evidence for their benefit, 5-aminosalicylates were prescribed to approximately half of CD patients (30% prolonged therapy). Nephrotoxicity was rare in this patient cohort, and was not associated with 5-aminosalicylate use, but rather with disease status, comorbidity and use of nephrotoxic drugs.

Burden, access, and disparities in kidney disease

For the World Kidney Day Steering Committee Kidney disease is a global public health problem that affects more than 750 million persons worldwide. The burden of kidney disease varies substantially across the world, as does its detection and treatment. Although the magnitude and impact of kidney disease is better defined in developed countries, emerging evidence suggests that developing countries have a similar or even greater kidney disease burden. In many settings, rates of kidney disease and the provision of its care are defined by socioeconomic, cultural, and political factors, leading to significant disparities in disease burden, even in developed countries. These disparities exist across the spectrum of kidney disease - from preventive efforts to curb development of acute kidney injury or chronic kidney disease, to screening for kidney disease among persons at high risk, to access to subspecialty care and treatment of kidney failure with renal replacement therapy. World Kidney Day 2019 offers an opportunity to raise awareness of kidney disease and highlight disparities in its burden and current state of global capacity for prevention and management. In this editorial, we highlight these disparities and emphasize the role of public policies and organizational structures in addressing them. We outline opportunities to improve our understanding of disparities in kidney disease, the best ways for them to be addressed, and how to streamline efforts toward achieving kidney health equity across the globe.

Hemodialysis versus peritoneal dialysis in resource-limited settings

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

To assess the use, access to and outcomes of hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis in low-resource settings.

RECENT FINDINGS

Hemodialysis tends to predominate because of costs and logistics, however services tend to be located in larger cities, often paid for out of pocket. Outcomes of dialysis-requiring acute kidney injury and end-stage kidney disease may be similar with hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis, and therefore choice of therapy is dominated by availability, accessibility and patient or physician choice. Some countries have implemented peritoneal dialysis-first policies to reduce costs and improve access, because peritoneal dialysis requires less infrastructure, can be scaled up more easily and can be cheaper when fluids are manufactured locally.

SUMMARY

Access to both hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis remains highly inequitable in lower-resource settings. Although challenges associated with dialysis in low-resource settings are similar, and there are more adults who require dialysis in low-resource settings, addressing hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis needs of children in low-resource settings requires attention as the global inequities are greatest in this area. Lower-income countries are increasingly seeking to improve access to dialysis through various strategies, but meeting the costs of the entire dialysis population continues to be a major challenge.

Burden, access, and disparities in kidney disease

Kidney disease is a global public health problem, affecting over 750 million persons worldwide. The burden of kidney disease varies substantially across the world, as does its detection and treatment. In many settings, rates of kidney disease and the provision of its care are defined by socio-economic, cultural, and political factors leading to significant disparities. World Kidney Day 2019 offers an opportunity to raise awareness of kidney disease and highlight disparities in its burden and current state of global capacity for prevention and management. Here, we highlight that many countries still lack access to basic diagnostics, a trained nephrology workforce, universal access to primary health care, and renal replacement therapies. We point to the need for strengthening basic infrastructure for kidney care services for early detection and management of acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease across all countries and advocate for more pragmatic approaches to providing renal replacement therapies. Achieving universal health coverage worldwide by 2030 is one of the World Health Organization's Sustainable Development Goals. While universal health coverage may not include all elements of kidney care in all countries, understanding what is feasible and important for a country or region with a focus on reducing the burden and consequences of kidney disease would be an important step toward achieving kidney health equity.

Burden, access, and disparities in kidney disease

This article was published in Kidney International volume 95, pages 242–248, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kint.2018.11.007, Copyright World Kidney Day 2019 Steering Committee (2019) and is reprinted concurrently in several journals. The articles cover identical concepts and wording, but vary in minor stylistic and spelling changes, detail, and length of manuscript in keeping with each journal's style. Any of these versions may be used in citing this article. Note that all authors contributed equally to the conception, preparation, and editing of the manuscript.

Kidney disease is a global public health problem, affecting over 750 million persons worldwide. The burden of kidney disease varies substantially across the world, as does its detection and treatment. In many settings, rates of kidney disease and the provision of its care are defined by socio-economic, cultural, and political factors leading to significant disparities. World Kidney Day 2019 offers an opportunity to raise awareness of kidney disease and highlight disparities in its burden and current state of global capacity for prevention and management. Here, we highlight that many countries still lack access to basic diagnostics, a trained nephrology workforce, universal access to primary health care, and renal replacement therapies. We point to the need for strengthening basic infrastructure for kidney care services for early detection and management of acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease across all countries and advocate for more pragmatic approaches to providing renal replacement therapies. Achieving universal health coverage worldwide by 2030 is one of the World Health Organization's Sustainable Development Goals. While universal health coverage may not include all elements of kidney care in all countries, understanding what is feasible and important for a country or region with a focus on reducing the burden and consequences of kidney disease would be an important step towards achieving kidney health equity.

Burden, Access, and Disparities in Kidney Disease

Kidney disease is a global public health problem, affecting more than 750 million persons worldwide. The burden of kidney disease varies substantially across the world, as does its detection and treatment. In many settings, rates of kidney disease and the provision of its care are defined by socioeconomic, cultural, and political factors leading to significant disparities. World Kidney Day 2019 offers an opportunity to raise awareness of kidney disease and highlight disparities in its burden and current state of global capacity for prevention and management. Here, we highlight that many countries still lack access to basic diagnostics, a trained nephrology workforce, universal access to primary health care, and renal replacement therapies. We point to the need for strengthening basic infrastructure for kidney care services for early detection and management of acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease across all countries and advocate for more pragmatic approaches to providing renal replacement therapies. Achieving universal health coverage worldwide by 2030 is one of the World Health Organization’s Sustainable Development Goals. Although universal health coverage may not include all elements of kidney care in all countries, understanding what is feasible and important for a country or region with a focus on reducing the burden and consequences of kidney disease would be an important step toward achieving kidney health equity.

Burden, Access, and Disparities in Kidney Disease

Kidney disease is a global public health problem, affecting over 750 million persons worldwide. The burden of kidney disease varies substantially across the world. In many settings, rates of kidney disease and the provision of its care are defined by socioeconomic, cultural, and political factors leading to significant disparities. World Kidney Day 2019 offers an opportunity to raise awareness of kidney disease and highlight disparities in its burden and current state of global capacity for prevention and management. Here, we highlight the need for strengthening basic infrastructure for kidney care services for early detection and management of acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease across all countries and advocate for more pragmatic approaches to providing renal replacement therapies. Achieving universal health coverage worldwide by 2030 is a World Health Organization Sustainable Development Goal. While universal health coverage may not include all elements of kidney care in all countries, understanding what is locally feasible and important with a focus on reducing the burden and consequences of kidney disease would be an important step towards achieving kidney health equity.

Burden, Access, and Disparities in Kidney Disease

Kidney disease is a global public health problem, affecting over 750 million persons worldwide. The burden of kidney disease varies substantially across the world. In many settings, rates of kidney disease and the provision of its care are defined by socioeconomic, cultural, and political factors leading to significant disparities. World Kidney Day 2019 offers an opportunity to raise awareness of kidney disease and highlight disparities in its burden and current state of global capacity for prevention and management. Here, we highlight the need for strengthening basic infrastructure for kidney care services for early detection and management of acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease across all countries and advocate for more pragmatic approaches to providing renal replacement therapies. Achieving universal health coverage worldwide by 2030 is a World Health Organization Sustainable Development Goal. While universal health coverage may not include all elements of kidney care in all countries, understanding what is locally feasible and important with a focus on reducing the burden and consequences of kidney disease would be an important step towards achieving kidney health equity.

Burden, access and disparities in kidney disease

Kidney disease is a global public health problem, affecting over 750 million persons worldwide. The burden of kidney disease varies substantially across the world, as does its detection and treatment. In many settings, rates of kidney disease and the provision of its care are defined by socio-economic, cultural, and political factors leading to significant disparities. World Kidney Day 2019 offers an opportunity to raise awareness of kidney disease and highlight disparities in its burden and current state of global capacity for prevention and management. Here, we highlight that many countries still lack access to basic diagnostics, a trained nephrology workforce, universal access to primary health care, and renal replacement therapies. We point to the need for strengthening basic infrastructure for kidney care services for early detection and management of acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease across all countries and advocate for more pragmatic approaches to providing renal replacement therapies. Achieving universal health coverage worldwide by 2030 is one of the World Health Organization's Sustainable Development Goals. While universal health coverage may not include all elements of kidney care in all countries, understanding what is feasible and important for a country or region with a focus on reducing the burden and consequences of kidney disease would be an important step towards achieving kidney health equity.

Burden, Access, and Disparities in Kidney Disease

Kidney disease is a global public health problem, affecting over 750 million persons worldwide. The burden of kidney disease varies substantially across the world. In many settings, rates of kidney disease and the provision of its care are defined by socioeconomic, cultural, and political factors leading to significant disparities. World Kidney Day 2019 offers an opportunity to raise awareness of kidney disease and highlight disparities in its burden and current state of global capacity for prevention and management. Here, we highlight the need for strengthening basic infrastructure for kidney care services for early detection and management of acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease across all countries and advocate for more pragmatic approaches to providing renal replacement therapies. Achieving universal health coverage worldwide by 2030 is a World Health Organization Sustainable Development Goal. While universal health coverage may not include all elements of kidney care in all countries, understanding what is locally feasible and important with a focus on reducing the burden and consequences of kidney disease would be an important step towards achieving kidney health equity.

Burden, access, and disparities in kidney disease

Kidney disease is a global public health problem, affecting over 750 million persons worldwide. The burden of kidney disease varies substantially across the world, as does its detection and treatment. In many settings, rates of kidney disease and the provision of its care are defined by socio-economic, cultural, and political factors leading to significant disparities. World Kidney Day 2019 offers an opportunity to raise awareness of kidney disease and highlight disparities in its burden and current state of global capacity for prevention and management. Here, we highlight that many countries still lack access to basic diagnostics, a trained nephrology workforce, universal access to primary health care, and renal replacement therapies. We point to the need for strengthening basic infrastructure for kidney care services for early detection and management of acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease across all countries and advocate for more pragmatic approaches to providing renal replacement therapies. Achieving universal health coverage worldwide by 2030 is one of the World Health Organization's Sustainable Development Goals. While universal health coverage may not include all elements of kidney care in all countries, understanding what is feasible and important for a country or region with a focus on reducing the burden and consequences of kidney disease would be an important step towards achieving kidney health equity.

2019 World Kidney Day Editorial - burden, access, and disparities in kidney disease

Kidney disease is a global public health problem, affecting over 750 million persons worldwide. The burden of kidney disease varies substantially across the world, as does its detection and treatment. In many settings, rates of kidney disease and the provision of its care are defined by socio-economic, cultural, and political factors leading to significant disparities. World Kidney Day 2019 offers an opportunity to raise awareness of kidney disease and highlight disparities in its burden and current state of global capacity for prevention and management. Here, we highlight that many countries still lack access to basic diagnostics, a trained nephrology workforce, universal access to primary health care, and renal replacement therapies. We point to the need for strengthening basic infrastructure for kidney care services for early detection and management of acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease across all countries and advocate for more pragmatic approaches to providing renal replacement therapies. Achieving universal health coverage worldwide by 2030 is one of the World Health Organization's Sustainable Development Goals. While universal health coverage may not include all elements of kidney care in all countries, understanding what is feasible and important for a country or region with a focus on reducing the burden and consequences of kidney disease would be an important step towards achieving kidney health equity.

Metformin: A Candidate Drug for Renal Diseases

Over the past decades metformin has been the optimal first-line treatment for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Only in the last few years, it has become increasingly clear that metformin exerts benign pleiotropic actions beyond its prescribed use and ongoing investigations focus on a putative beneficial impact of metformin on the kidney. Both acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD), two major renal health issues, often result in the need for renal replacement therapy (dialysis or transplantation) with a high socio-economic impact for the patients. Unfortunately, to date, effective treatment directly targeting the kidney is lacking. Metformin has been shown to exert beneficial effects on the kidney in various clinical trials and experimental studies performed in divergent rodent models representing different types of renal diseases going from AKI to CKD. Despite growing evidence on metformin as a candidate drug for renal diseases, in-depth research is imperative to unravel the molecular signaling pathways responsible for metformin's renoprotective actions. This review will discuss the current state-of-the-art literature on clinical and preclinical data, and put forward potential cellular mechanisms and molecular pathways by which metformin ameliorates AKI/CKD.

Prevalence and factors associated with self-reported kidney disease among Serbian adults: Results of 2013 National Health Survey

BACKGROUND

Data from developing countries on the rates of kidney disease are scarce. The study aimed to estimate population-based prevalence of self-reported kidney disease (SRKD) in Serbia, describe co-occurrence of chronic diseases/conditions/functional limitations in respondents with SRKD and explore association between SRKD and possible risk factors.

METHODS

We performed a secondary analysis of 2013 National Health Survey data. Data on a total of 14,587 respondents aged 15 years or older were analyzed using means of descriptive statistics, principal component analysis and logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

Out of all study respondents, 5.6% (95%CI 5.2-6.0) reported presence of kidney disease. Prevalence of all analyzed morbidities and functional limitations was higher in respondents with SRKD, and they had 8 times higher likelihood of being diagnosed with cirrhosis, 6.3 times higher likelihood of being diagnosed with urinary incontinence, more than 3 times higher likelihood of being diagnosed with degenerative disorder of bone and joint system. For cardiovascular diseases we obtained odds ratios (ORs) from 2.27 (95%CI 2.32-3.44) for heart attack to 2.95 (95%CI 2.43-3.57) for coronary heart disease. Number of co-occurrence patterns of kidney and other chronic diseases/conditions varied depending on inclusion of obesity in models. Logistic regression analysis showed that age explained most part of variability in the prevalence of SRKD and in the prevalence of two morbidities in respondents with SRKD, whereas the presence of three or more morbidities were associated with female gender, aging and low education level.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study provided evidence that the presence of kidney disease was significantly associated with socio-demographic, lifestyle characteristics and a number of morbidities in Serbia. There is a need for integrated care and public health interventions, tackling management of NCDs and their risk factors. Detailed well-designed studies, as part of cost-effective preventive approach, are needed for chronic kidney disease screening.

The global burden of kidney disease and the sustainable development goals

Kidney disease has been described as the most neglected chronic disease. Reliable estimates of the global burden of kidney disease require more population-based studies, but specific risks occur across the socioeconomic spectrum from poverty to affluence, from malnutrition to obesity, in agrarian to post-industrial settings, and along the life course from newborns to older people. A range of communicable and noncommunicable diseases result in renal complications and many people who have kidney disease lack access to care. The causes, consequences and costs of kidney diseases have implications for public health policy in all countries. The risks of kidney disease are also influenced by ethnicity, gender, location and lifestyle.  Increasing economic and health disparities, migration, demographic transition, unsafe working conditions and environmental threats, natural disasters and pollution may thwart attempts to reduce the morbidity and mortality from kidney disease. A multisectoral approach is needed to tackle the global burden of kidney disease. The sustainable development goals (SDGs) emphasize the importance of a multisectoral approach to health. We map the actions towards achieving all of the SDGs that have the potential to improve understanding, measurement, prevention and treatment of kidney disease in all age groups. These actions can also foster treatment innovations and reduce the burden of such disease in future generations.