Study shows high incidence of chronic kidney disease in diabetes affected by disparities

Article published in New England Journal of Medicine highlights research that finds a worrisomely high rate or rate of new-onset chronic kidney disease (CKD) in people with diabetes that was most evident in racial and ethnic minority groups.

The prevalence of kidney failure requiring dialysis or transplantation more than doubled to nearly 800,000 people in the United States between 2000 and 2019, with diabetes as the leading cause. The incidence of new CKD in people with diabetes was previously unknown, but the value of such disease data is vital for identifying high-risk populations, determining the effectiveness of interventions, and evaluating the impact on providing medical care and public health measures. Even more surprising, less than 10% of patients with early-stage kidney disease are aware of CKD at the time when treatment is most effective in slowing progression.

Researchers from Providence, the University of California, Los Angeles, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the University of Washington School of Medicine tracked 654,549 adults with diabetes from 2015 to 2020 using electronic medical records from Providence and UCLA Health, large nonprofit health systems serving the western United States.

The incidence of new CKD was found to be approximately 60%, 40%, 33%, and 25% higher in Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Hispanic/Latino, respectively. to white people with diabetes. Although the high incidence of CKD in diabetes persists, between 2015–2016 and 2019–2020 this rate decreased from 8% to 6.4% per year among the general diabetes population.

“Given the rapidly growing population with diabetes in the United States and the corresponding high rates of kidney failure, the persistently high rates of CKD marked by racial and ethnic disparities are concerning,” said Kathryn R. Tuttle, MD, lead author of the study, Executive Director of Research, Providence Inland Northwest Health and Professor of Medicine, University of Washington. “Inclusive prevention, detection and intervention strategies are needed to reduce the risk of CKD in people with diabetes.”

Courtesy of Providence Health & Services