Preventing renal and cardiovascular risk by renal function assessment: insights from a cross-sectional study in low-income countries and the USA

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2012-001357

BMJ Open. 2012; 2(5): e001357.

Published online 2012 September 26. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-001357

PMCID: PMC3467605

Preventing renal and cardiovascular risk by renal function assessment: insights from a cross-sectional study in low-income countries and the USA

Paolo Cravedi,¹ Sanjib Kumar Sharma,² Rodolfo Flores Bravo,³ Nazmul Islam,⁴ Irma Tchokhonelidze,⁵ Madhav Ghimire,² Bishnu Pahari,² Sanjeev Thapa,² Anil Basnet,² Avtandil Tataradze,⁵ Davitaia Tinatin,⁶ Lela Beglarishvili,⁵ Chyng-Wen Fwu,⁷ Jeffrey B Kopp,⁸ Paul Eggers,⁹ Bogdan Ene-Iordache,¹ Sergio Carminati,¹ Annalisa Perna,¹ Antonietta Chianca,¹ William G Couser,¹⁰ Giuseppe Remuzzi,¹ and Norberto Perico¹

¹Clinical Research Center for Rare Diseases “Aldo e Cele Daccò”, Villa Camozzi, Ranica, and Centro Anna Maria Astori, Science and Technology Park Kilometro Rosso, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Bergamo, Italy

²Department of Medicine, BP Koirala Institute of Health Science, Dharan, Nepal

³Department of Medicine, Hospital Juan XXIII, La Paz, Bolivia

⁴Department of Nephrology, North East Medical College Hospital Sylhet, Sylhet, Bangladesh

⁵Dialysis, Nephrology and Transplantation Union of Georgia, National Center of Urology, Tbilisi, Georgia

⁶Department of Pediatrics, M. Iashvili Children Central Hospital, Tbilisi, Georgia

⁷Social & Scientific Systems, Inc., Silver Spring, Maryland, USA

⁸Kidney Disease Section, NIDDK, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

⁹Division of Kidney, Urologic and Hematologic Diseases, NIDDK, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

¹⁰Division of Nephrology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

^{Correspondence to} Dr Giuseppe Remuzzi, Clinical Research Center for Rare Diseases "Aldo e Cele Daccò", Villa Camozzi, Ranica, and Centro Anna Maria Astori, Science and Technology Park Kilometro Rosso, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Via Stezzano, 87, Bergamo 24126, Italy; Email: gremuzzi/at/marionegri.it

Received May 3, 2012; Accepted August 6, 2012.

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Abstract

Objective

To assess the prevalence of microalbuminuria and kidney dysfunction in low-income countries and in the USA.

Design

Cross-sectional study of screening programmes in five countries.

Setting

Screening programmes in Nepal, Bolivia, the USA (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005–2008) Bangladesh and Georgia.

Participants

General population in Nepal (n=20 811), Bolivia (n=3436) and in the USA (n=4299) and high-risk subjects in Bangladesh (n=1518) and Georgia (n=1549).

Primary and secondary outcome measures

Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)<60ml/min/1.73 m² and microalbuminuria (defined as urinary albumin creatinine ratio values of 30–300 mg/g) were the main outcome measures. The cardiovascular (CV) risk was also evaluated on the basis of demographic, clinical and blood data.

Results

The prevalence of eGFR<60ml/min/1.73 m² was 19%, 3.2% and 7% in Nepal, Bolivia and the USA, respectively. In Nepal, 7% of subjects were microalbuminuric compared to 8.6% in the USA. The prevalence of participants with predicted 10-year CV disease (CVD) risk ≥10% was 16.9%, 9.4% and 17% in Nepal, Bolivia and in the USA, respectively. In Bangladesh and Georgia, subjects with eGFR<60 ml/min/1.73 m² were 8.6% and 4.9%, whereas those with microalbuminuria were 45.4% and 56.5%, respectively. Predicted 10-year CVD risk ≥10% was 25.4% and 25% in Bangladesh and Georgia, respectively.

Conclusions

Renal abnormalities are common among low-income countries and in the USA. Prevention programmes, particularly focused on those with renal abnormalities, should be established worldwide to prevent CVD and progression to end-stage renal disease.

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