Time From eGFR Wait-List Threshold to ESKD Shorter in Blacks

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 24, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Black patients have a shorter time from estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) levels of ≤20 mL/min/1.73 m² to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) onset than Whites, according to a study published online Feb. 23 in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Elaine Ku, M.D., from the University of California San Francisco, and colleagues compared racial differences in accruable wait time and kidney transplant preparation in participants of the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC), based on estimates of kidney function by creatinine (eGFR_cr), cystatin C (eGRF_cys), or both (eGFR_cr-cys).

The researchers found that 444 CRIC participants were eligible for wait-list registration by eGFR_cr, but Blacks had 32 percent shorter time than Whites in the potential time between eGFR of ≤20 mL/min/1.73 m² and ESKD. Four hundred thirty-five participants were eligible by eGFR_cys, with Blacks having 35 percent shorter potential wait time than Whites. Four hundred sixty-one participants were eligible by eGFR_cr-cys, with Blacks having a 31 percent shorter potential wait time than Whites. Racial equity in accruable wait time prior to ESKD onset could be improved by registering Blacks on the wait list as early as an eGFR of 24 to 25 mL/min/1.73 m².

“We found that use of a higher kidney function threshold to allow for earlier eligibility for waitlisting in Blacks could theoretically reduce the racial disparity in time spent in the advanced stages of chronic kidney disease,” Ku said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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