Chronic kidney disease is a worldwide public health problem with an increasing incidence and prevalence, poor outcomes, and high cost. Outcomes of chronic kidney disease include not only kidney failure but also complications of decreased kidney function and cardiovascular disease. Current evidence suggests that some of these adverse outcomes can be prevented or delayed by early detection and treatment. Unfortunately, chronic kidney disease is underdiagnosed and undertreated, in part as a result of lack of agreement on a definition and classification of its stages of progression.Recent clinical practice guidelines by the National Kidney Foundation 1) define chronic kidney disease and classify its stages, regardless of underlying cause, 2) evaluate laboratory measurements for the clinical assessment of kidney disease, 3) associate the level of kidney function with complications of chronic kidney disease, and 4) stratify the risk for loss of kidney function and development of cardiovascular disease. The guidelines were developed by using an approach based on the procedure outlined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.This paper presents the definition and five-stage classification system of chronic kidney disease and summarizes the major recommendations on early detection in adults. Recommendations include identifying persons at increased risk (those with diabetes, those with hypertension, those with a family history of chronic kidney disease, those older than 60 years of age, or those with U.S. racial or ethnic minority status), detecting kidney damage by measuring the albumincreatinine ratio in untimed (spot) urine specimens, and estimating the glomerular filtration rate from serum creatinine measurements by using prediction equations. Because of the high prevalence of early stages of chronic kidney disease in the general population (approximately 11% of adults), this information is particularly important for general internists and specialists.
Chronic kidney disease is a worldwide public health problem. In the United States, the incidence and prevalence of kidney failure are rising, the outcomes are poor, and the costs are high. The number of persons with kidney failure who are treated with dialysis and transplantation is projected to increase from 340 000 in 1999 to 651 000 in 2010 (1). The major outcomes of chronic kidney disease, regardless of cause, include progression to kidney failure, complications of decreased kidney function, and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Increasing evidence indicates that some of these adverse outcomes can be prevented or delayed by early detection and treatment (2). Unfortunately, chronic kidney disease is underdiagnosed and undertreated, resulting in lost opportunities for prevention (3–5), in part because of a lack of agreement on a definition and classification of stages in the progression of chronic kidney disease (6) and a lack of uniform application of simple tests for detection and evaluation.
In February 2002, the Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (K/DOQI) of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) published 15 clinical practice guidelines on chronic kidney disease [7]. The goals of the guidelines are to 1) define chronic kidney disease and classify its stages, regardless of underlying cause; 2) evaluate laboratory measurements for the clinical assessment of kidney disease; 3) associate the level of kidney function with complications of chronic kidney disease; and 4) stratify the risk for loss of kidney function and development of CVD. Our goal is to disseminate the simple definition and five-stage classification system of chronic kidney disease, to summarize the major recommendations on early detection of chronic kidney disease in adults (Table 1), and to consider some of the issues associated with these recommendations. Because of the high prevalence of early stages of chronic kidney disease in the general population, this information is particularly important for general internists and specialists.