Chronic Kidney Disease

Epidemiology of CKD

CKD is a global health problem of increasing scope and depth. Population studies in Europe, Australia, Japan and the United States indicate that up to 16% of the general population have some degree of CKD^1-4 and it is expected that the number of patients with stage 5 CKD will continue to rise. In 2004, the number of patients worldwide receiving treatment for stage 5 disease was reported to exceed 1 million.⁵The total burden of CKD is likely to be considerably greater than this, as the number of patients with earlier stages of disease (stages 1 to 4) may be as much as 50-fold higher.¹

The growing global prevalence of CKD is due to the expansion of populations that are at increased risk of developing the disease, including the elderly and patients with hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus.^6-8 In one US study, one quarter of non-institutionalised adults 70 years of age or older had moderate-to-severe kidney dysfunction, as opposed to 0.2% of individuals 20 to 39 years of age;¹ stages 3 through 5 CKD occurred in 11% of individuals over 65 years of age without diabetes or hypertension.

References:
1. Coresh J, Astor BC, Greene T, Eknoyan G, Levey AS. Prevalence of chronic kidney disease and decreased kidney function in the adult US population: Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Am J Kidney Dis. 2003;41:1-12.
2. Hillege HL, Janssen WM, Bak AA, Diercks GF, Grobbee DE, Crijns HJ, Van Gilst WH, De Zeeuw D, De Jong PE; Prevend Study Group. Microalbuminuria is common, also in a nondiabetic, nonhypertensive population, and an independent indicator of cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular morbidity. J Intern Med. 2001;249:519-526.
3. Chadban SJ, Briganti EM, Kerr PG, Dunstan DW, Welborn TA, Zimmet PZ, Atkins RC. Prevalence of kidney damage in Australian adults: The AusDiab kidney study. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2003;14:S131-S138.
4. Iseki K. The Okinawa screening program. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2003;14(Suppl 2):S127-S130.
5. Grassmann A, Gioberge S, Moeller S, Brown G. ESRD patients in 2004: global overview of patient numbers, treatment modalities and associated trends. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2005;20:2587-2593.
6. Bommer J. Prevalence and socio-economic aspects of chronic kidney disease. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2002;17(Suppl 11):8-12.
7. Moeller S, Gioberge S, Brown G. ESRD patients in 2001: global overview of patients, treatment modalities and development trends. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2002;17:2071-2076.
8. White SL, Cass A, Atkins RC, Chadban SJ. Chronic kidney disease in the general population. Adv Chronic Kidney Dis. 2005;12:5-13.