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Kidney disease more likely to progress in minorities than whites

Category: Kidney Diseases

Low-income minority adults who test positive for moderate to severe chronic kidney disease (CKD) are considerably more likely to progress to kidney failure than are whites, U.S researchers have found.

In the study, researchers from the University of California San Francisco and the University of Washington analyzed data from 15,353 people of varying ethnicities who were diagnosed with non-dialysis dependent CKD stages three, four and five. Patients were monitored for a period of 12 months to nine years.

After calculating the time that it took each respondent to progress from CKD to end-stage renal disease (ERSD) or death, the research team found that U.S. minorities are two to four times more likely than whites to develop ERSD.

The study's co-author Andy Choi and his colleagues also discovered that the majority of those suffering from CKD and ERSD were below the poverty line, with 40 percent of respondents either uninsured or enrolled in Medicaid. Moreover, a significant percentage were young adults, between the ages of 20 and 39.

"Health care providers need to be especially vigilant screening patients who are most at-risk for developing kidney disease - minorities, seniors and those who have been diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease," said Sharon Anderson, president of the American Society of Nephrology.