Vast majority of people with chronic kidney disease unaware they suffer from condition

The vast majority of people in Ireland who have chronic kidney disease (CKD) are unaware that they suffer from the condition, a new study has found.

Researchers at Trinity College Dublin, in collaboration with the Health Service Executive (HSE), found that CKD was present in 15.6 per cent of people aged 50 years and over living in Ireland. Of that number – which translates to approximately 226,000 people, or one in every seven of the population – 98 per cent of them were unaware they suffered from CKD.

The study has recommended a concerted effort in increasing public awareness about the disease.

The research was carried out by analysing data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing in Ireland (TILDA), a “large-scale, nationally representative, longitudinal study on ageing in Ireland”. The data was collected from a sample population in three “waves”, between 2009 and 2011, and between 2013 and 2015.

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The study found that the prevalence of CKD in adults over 50 is rising – although this is likely related to ageing, and an improved survival rate in the general population. New cases of the condition in those aged 50 and above are occurring at a rate of 16 cases for every 1,000 people.

The study predicted that this rise will likely contribute increased demand on nephrology and hospital inpatients services “now and in [the] future”.

Hypertension, the study found, was the most common CKD-related condition in the adult population.

There are a number of risk factors associated with kidney disease: people with high blood pressure or diabetes are up to three times more likely to have CKD. Roughly 50 per cent of adults with CKD have uncontrolled blood pressure.

The study notes that treating high blood pressure – along with other risk factors for kidney disease – can help to protect kidney and heart health, preventing the need for dialysis.

“Over the past 10 years, the number of patients treated by dialysis or kidney transplantation has increased by 30 per cent. This costs the State almost €1 million per day to treat,” the study reports.

The study called for a greater awareness around the condition and the adverse health outcomes associated with it, including cardiovascular disease, kidney failure and even premature death.

The report also recommended for the incorporation of CKD into the HSE’s Chronic Disease Management Programme for primary care, stating that doing so may facilitate the improved care of patients with CKD in Ireland.

The introduction of medications known to reduce rates of deterioration in kidney function and reduce cardiovascular risks would also be of benefit, the study noted.

Prof Donal Sexton, lead author of the study and consultant nephologist at St James’s Hospital, said that the report was “extremely important” for people with CKD, as it emphasises the “public health requirement to improve awareness and treatment in the light of new approved medications”.

“The incorporation of chronic kidney disease into the chronic disease management program in Ireland may facilitate improved treatment of the condition in primary care,” he said.

CKD is an “important and hitherto neglected” cause of disability in ageing people in Ireland, Prof Rose-Anne Kenny of TILDA said. “The aim of this TILDA research is to characterise CKD in adults in Ireland and raise awareness of how common it is (1 in 7 adults over 50) and how, if it is identified sufficiently early, we can manage its course and lessen its more severe health consequences.”

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