Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have a wide range of rates of progression to renal failure. The kidney failure risk equation (KFRE) has been found to reliably predict renal failure progression in persons with CKD. For a study, researchers sought to identify patients’ healthcare usage habits based on their likelihood of progression. A retrospective cohort analysis of persons with CKD with an eGFR of 15–59 ml/min per 1.73 m^2 recruited in multidisciplinary CKD clinics in Saskatchewan, Canada, was done. Data were gathered and tracked for 5 years, from January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2012. (December 31, 2017). They divided patients into groups based on their eGFR and risk of progression, then compared the frequency and expense of hospitalizations, physician visits, and prescription medicines.
The study included 1,003 adults in total. Over the 5-year research period, the expenditures of hospital admissions, physician visits, and medicine dispensations in the eGFR of 15–29 ml/min per 1.73 m^2 group were (Canadian dollars) $89,265 compared $48,374 (P=0.008), $23,423 versus $11,231 (P=0.001), and $21,853 versus $16,757 (P=0.01), respectively. In high-risk patients with an eGFR of 30–59 ml/min per 1.73 m^2, the expenses of hospitalizations, physician visits, and prescription medicines were $55,944 compared $36,740 (P=0.10), $13,414 versus $10,370 (P=0.08), and $20,394 versus $14,902 (P=0.02), respectively, in contrast to low-risk patients.
The expenses of hospital admissions, physician visits, and medications were greater for patients at higher risk of progression to kidney failure by the KFRE compared to those in the low-risk group in patients with CKD and eGFR of 15–59 ml/min per 1.73 m^2 monitored in multidisciplinary clinics. The high-risk group of CKD patients with eGFRs of 15–29 ml/min per 1.73 m^2 exhibited a greater connection with hospitalization expenditures, physician visits, and prescription consumption.
Reference:cjasn.asnjournals.org/content/17/1/17
