The following is a summary of “Interactive exploration of adverse events and multimorbidity in CKD,” published in the April 2024 issue of Nephrology by Steinbrenner et al.

People with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) often face more health problems, early mortality, and multimorbidity. There is a lack of a good overview of the types and rates of these problems in large CKD groups under regular kidney care. 

Researchers conducted a prospective study exploring the different types of health issues and how they combine in an extensive CKD study called the German CKD (GCKD).

They studied 5,217 participants under nephrological care with an estimated glomerular rate of 30-60 or >60mL/min² and protein in their urine. Using the R shiny app, time-to-event data like heart, brain, and blood vessel issues, kidney problems, infections, cancer, and deaths were noted. Statistical models were used to analyze risk factors and display results with the help of graphs.

The results showed that over a median of 6.5 years, there were 10,271 events, and 680 participants (13.0%) succumbed to death, with 2,947 (56.5%) having at least one event. A new interactive platform lets readers explore these events and mortality patterns to understand CKD better. Event rates varied by type, CKD cause, and patient characteristics, like 113.6 for cardiovascular issues, 75.0 for kidney problems, and 66.0 for infections. Participants with diabetic kidney disease and men were more affected by these events.

Investigators concluded that this interactive tool could benefit doctors by identifying which patients with kidney disease are at higher risk and planning better health services and policies.

Source: academic.oup.com/ndt/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ndt/gfae092/7658453