Brazilian Dialysis Survey 2021

Occupational risks associated with chronic kidney disease of non-traditional origin (CKDnt) in Brazil: it is time to dig deeper into a neglected problem

In the past decades, an epidemic of chronic kidney disease (CKD) has been associated with environmental and occupational factors (heat stress from high workloads in hot temperatures and exposure to chemicals, such as pesticides and metals), which has been termed CKD of non-traditional origin (CKDnt). This descriptive review aims to present recent evidence about heat stress, pesticides, and metals as possible causes of CKDnt and provide an overview of the related Brazilian regulation, enforcement, and health surveillance strategies. Brazilian workers are commonly exposed to extreme heat conditions and other CKDnt risk factors, including increasing exposure to pesticides and metals. Furthermore, there is a lack of adequate regulation (and enforcement), public policies, and strategies to protect the kidney health of workers, considering the main risk factors. CKDnt is likely to be a significant cause of CKD in Brazil, since CKD's etiology is unknown in many patients and several conditions for its development are present in the country. Further epidemiological studies may be conducted to explore causal associations and estimate the impact of heat, pesticides, and metals on CKDnt in Brazil. Moreover, public policies should prioritize reducing workers´ exposure and promoting their health and safety.

Comparison of 1-year survival between patients initiating chronic hemodialysis under public and private health insurance: register-based data analysis from Brazil

PURPOSE

Brazil has one of the world's highest numbers of patients on hemodialysis (HD). Most dialysis centers are private and perform HD for patients with private and public health insurance. We compared 1-year survival between patients initiating chronic HD with public and private health insurance.

METHODS

This is an HD register-based retrospective cohort. Adult patients starting HD from January 2011 to December 2021 were included. Survival analysis was stratified according to the period entered in the HD register. Multivariate Cox regression focused on 1-year survival differences between private and public patients.

RESULTS

In the final sample (n = 5114), 68.5% of participants had public and 31.3% to private health insurance, with overall 1-year survival of 92.8% and 89.9%, respectively (p = 0.002). Crude analysis showed a slightly higher survival rate among patients with public health insurance than those with private health insurance (91 vs. 87%, p = 0.030) in the first period (2019-21). However, the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) did not remain significantly higher for patients with private health insurance compared to those with public health insurance (HR = 1.07; 95% CI 0.80-1.41; p = 0.651), even after propensity score matching of the groups by several baseline features.

CONCLUSION

Brazilian chronic HD patients funded by either private health plans or the public system have a similar 1-year mortality risk after controlling for several sociodemographic and clinical parameters.

Brazilian Dialysis Survey 2022

INTRODUCTION

The Brazilian Dialysis Survey (BDS) is an annual national survey about patients on chronic dialysis that contributes to health policies.

OBJECTIVE

To report the 2022 epidemiological data from the BDS of the Brazilian Society of Nephrology (BSN).

METHODS

A survey was carried out in Brazilian chronic dialysis centers using an online questionnaire that included clinical and epidemiological aspects of patients on chronic dialysis, dialysis therapy data, and dialysis center characteristics.

RESULTS

Overall, 28% (n = 243) of the centers answered the questionnaire. In July 2022, the estimated total number of patients on dialysis was 153,831. The estimated prevalence and incidence rates of patients per million population (pmp) were 758 and 214, respectively. Of the prevalent patients, 95.3% were on hemodialysis (HD, 4.6% of these on hemodiafiltration) and 4.7% on peritoneal dialysis (PD). Only 1.3% of patients were not vaccinated against COVID-19. The prevalence of anemia (Hb < 10g/dL) was 27% and hyperphosphatemia (P > 5.5mg/dL) reached 30%. The estimated overall crude annual mortality rate was 17.1%.

CONCLUSIONS

The absolute number and prevalence rate of patients on chronic dialysis continue to increase. A growing number of patients were receiving hemodiafiltration. The mortality rate decreased, probably due to the end of COVID-19 pandemic. The conclusions were drawn in the context of relatively low voluntary participation, which imposed methodological limitations on our estimates.

Sex-specific differences in a large cohort of Brazilian incident dialysis patients over 12 years: A retrospective study

OBJECTIVE

Sex-specific differences in the epidemiology of chronic kidney disease, such as higher prevalence of women on pre-dialysis and men on chronic dialysis treatment, have been reported worldwide. In this regard, data from non-high-income countries are scarce. We aimed to compare the demographic, clinical, and dialysis characteristics of incident dialysis patients, both men and women, in a large cohort of Brazilian patients over a 12-year period.

METHODS

This was a multicentric retrospective cohort study coordinated by the Brazilian Society of Nephrology. The study included all adult incident dialysis patients in the Brazilian Dialysis Registry from January 2011 to December 2022. The variables studied encompassed age, skin color, education, CKD etiology, predialysis nephrologist care, dialysis characteristics, and geographic region. Additionally, the sample was analyzed for each of the three 4-year periods over the 12 years of data collection.

RESULTS

A total of 24,632 incident dialysis patients were included. Men were 59.1% of the dialysis population, remaining stable over the three 4-year periods. Besides other differences, women started dialysis younger (58.5 ± 16.2 years vs 59.5 ± 14.4 years; p < 0.001), had a lower educational level (less than 8 years at school: 54% vs 44%; p < 0.001), received more predialysis nephrologist care (46.2% vs 44.2%; p = 0.04), and had a higher prevalence of peritoneal dialysis (4.4% vs 3.5%; p = 0.03).

CONCLUSION

We consistently observed a higher prevalence of men on dialysis and differences in demographic, clinical, and dialysis characteristics. The underlying reasons for these sex differences still necessitate further clarification.

Dietary evaluation of sodium intake in patients with chronic kidney disease

Introduction

Introduction: high sodium intake is a risk factor for diseases such as systemic arterial hypertension, stroke, left ventricular hypertrophy, and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Objective: to evaluate the correlation between estimated sodium intake by dietary intake and 24-hour urinary excretion in patients with non-dialysis CKD. Material and Methods: a cross-sectional study with 151 individuals. Demographic, socioeconomic, clinical and lifestyle data were evaluated. Sodium was dosed in 24-hour urine and estimated by 24-hour Food Recall (R24h). To evaluate the association between demographic, anthropometric, nutritional and laboratory variables with sodium excretion in 24-hour urine, variance analysis (ANOVA) or Kruskal-Wallis test were used. The correlation between 24-hour urinary sodium excretion and dietary sodium intake was performed by Spearman's correlation coefficient. Results: mean age was 60.8 ± 11.8 years, 51.7 % were women. Hypertensive patients, 88.9 %; diabetics, 45.0 %; and 39.1 % were in stage 3B of CKD. Median sodium excretion in 24-hour urine was 112.2 mmol/L and R24h intake was 833.8 mg/day. Individuals belonging to the highest tertile of sodium excretion (T3) presented lower PTH values, and those with lower tertile (T1), higher serum HDL-c levels (p < 0.05). There was no statistical correlation between dietary sodium intake and 24-hour urine excretion (p-value = 0.241). Conclusion: the non-correlation between sodium obtained by 24-hour urinary excretion and dietary intake demonstrates the fragility of the estimation of sodium excretion through the dietary survey.

Dialysis headache: A literature review in the last 30 years

Introduction According to the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3), dialysis headache has no specific characteristics occurring during and caused by haemodialysis. It resolves spontaneously within 72 hours after the haemodialysis session has ended. Objective To describe the prevalence, clinical features, associated symptoms and risk factors of dialysis headache. Methods Based on a literature search in the major medical databases and using the descriptors“dialysis headache”, “hemodialysis and headache” and “renal dialysis and headache”we included articles published between 1992 and 2022. Of the 492articles found, only 9 met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Results We describe 444 patients (53.1% men and 46.9% women) diagnosed with dialysis headache, corresponding to 24.8% of those who underwent hemodialysis.The age ranged from 15 to 75 years. Pain occurred predominantly from the third hour of hemodialysis (65.8%), lasting less than four hours (71.7%), located bilaterally (63.1%), pulsatile (58.5%) and moderate intensity (68.9%).The most frequent associated symptoms were photophobia or phonophobia (71.5%), vertigo (22.3%) and nausea and/or vomiting (16.5%). Conclusion This review showed a high prevalence of dialysis headache in patients undergoing hemodialysis and that the clinical characteristics, treatment and prevention are still poorly studied.