Under-diagnosed chronic kidney disease in Jordanian adults: prevalence and correlates.

BACKGROUND: Jordan has no relevant database or registry by which chronic kidney disease (CKD) would be early identified. The purpose of the present study is to uncover the prevalence of CKD in a national sample of Jordanian patients at high risk and examine the association of CKD with demographic and clinical factors.

METHODS: This is a cross-sectional, correlational study that involved 540 outpatients at high risk for CKD. Demographic and clinical data were obtained in the period from September 2013 to March 2014. Prevalence of CKD was defined based on the National Kidney Foundation Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative Classification of CKD using estimated glomerular filtration rate. Associations of CKD and demographic and clinical factors were examined using bivariate analysis.

RESULTS: The majority of the sample were females (64%), their mean age (±SD) was 55.0 ± 12.5 years, their mean eGFR (±SD) was 116.0 ± 47.5. One third of patients had eGFR of 23.5%, 5.4%, 0.7% and 0.7% which corresponds with mild, moderate, severe and very severe reduction in eGFR, respectively. Ageing, being male, unemployment, packs/years of smoking, co-morbidities [hypertension (HTN), diabetes mellitus (DM) and cardiovascular disease] and low high density lipoprotein (HDL) correlated positively with development of CKD.

CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates a high rate of under-diagnosed CKD among Jordanians. Several demographic and clinical factors are linked with the development of CKD. Policymakers and healthcare providers need to establish an evidence-based practice project to prevent and screen for CKD in Jordan.