Detection and Awareness of Moderate to Advanced CKD by Primary Care Practitioners: A Cross-sectional Study From Italy

Minutolo, Roberto; De Nicola, Luca; Mazzaglia, Giampiero; Postorino, Maurizio; Cricelli, Claudio; Mantovani, Lorenzo G.; Conte, Giuseppe; Cianciaruso, Bruno

doi:10.1053/j.ajkd.2008.03.002

« Previous Next »American Journal of Kidney Diseases
Volume 52, Issue 3 , Pages 444-453, September 2008

Detection and Awareness of Moderate to Advanced CKD by Primary Care Practitioners: A Cross-sectional Study From Italy

Roberto Minutolo, MD, PhD
- Department of Nephrology, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy
Luca De Nicola, MD, PhD
- Department of Nephrology, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy
Giampiero Mazzaglia, MD
- Health Search Database, Florence, Italy
Maurizio Postorino, MD
- Department of Nephrology and CNR, Reggio Calabria, Italy
Claudio Cricelli, MD
- Italian College of General Practitioners, Florence, Italy
Lorenzo G. Mantovani, MSc, DSc
- CIRFF-Center of Pharmacoeconomics, Federico II University of Naples, Naples, Italy
Giuseppe Conte, MD
- Department of Nephrology, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy
Bruno Cianciaruso, MD
- Department of Nephrology, Federico II University of Naples, Naples, Italy
- Address correspondence to Bruno Cianciaruso, MD, Department of Nephrology, University Federico II of Naples, Via S Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy

Received 5 September 2007; accepted 3 March 2008. published online 13 May 2008.

Background

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a strong independent predictor of cardiovascular disease. Although general practitioners (GPs) represent the first line for identification of these high-risk patients, their diagnostic approach to CKD is ill defined.

Study Design

Cross-sectional evaluation of database of Italian GPs.

Setting & Participants

Representative sample of adult Italian population regularly followed up by GPs in 2003.

Outcomes

Frequency of serum creatinine testing, prevalence of CKD (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] < 60 mL/min/1.73 m²), awareness of CKD assessed from use of diagnostic codes (Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification [ICD-9-CM]) for CKD, and referral to nephrologists.

Results

Of 451,548 individuals in the entire practice population, only 77,630 (17.2%) underwent serum creatinine testing. Female sex (odds ratio [OR], 1.09; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06 to 1.12), advanced age (OR, 2.70; 95% CI, 2.63 to 2.78), diabetes (OR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.20 to 1.42), hypertension (OR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.19), autoimmune diseases (OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.11 to 1.82), and recurrent urinary tract infections (OR, 1.63; 95% CI, 1.10 to 2.42) were all associated with serum creatinine testing. Conversely, use of either nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.89 to 1.21) or aminoglycosides or contrast media (OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.54 to 1.14) was not associated with serum creatinine testing. In the subgroup with serum creatinine data, the age-adjusted prevalence of CKD was 9.33% (11.93% in women, 6.49% in men). However, in patients with eGFR less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m², serum creatinine values were apparently normal (<1.2 mg/dL in women, <1.4 mg/dL in men) in 54%, and GPs used ICD-9-CM codes for CKD in only 15.2%. Referral to nephrologists ranged from 4.9% for patients with eGFR of 59 to 30 mL/min/1.73 m² to 55.7% for those with eGFR less than 30 mL/min/1.73 m².

Limitations

The prevalence of decreased kidney function may be overestimated because of the more frequent serum creatinine testing in sicker individuals and lack of creatinine calibration.

Conclusions

In primary care, CKD stages 3 to 5 are frequent, but its awareness is scarce because of limited rates of serum creatinine testing and difficulty recognizing decreased eGFR in the absence of increased serum creatinine testing.

Index Words: Chronic kidney disease, computerized medical records, estimated glomerular filtration rate, primary care