Kidney Disease Risk Factors
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an important public health issue. Its prevalence is around 5% in the UK and it is frequently comorbid with other common diseases (e.g. hypertension, diabetes). For CKD patients the risk of complications (e.g. vascular calcification) increases with decreasing kidney function. Early intervention can reduce the number of patients progressing to dialysis/transplant and reduce the risk of severe complications. Ongoing research seeks to identify secondary care patients at greatest risk of losing kidney function.
Using clinical data we are studying the progression of CKD in a secondary care clinical setting using the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Standards Implementation Study (CRISIS) data collected at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust (UK). The CRISIS dataset is a prospectively collected observational study of outcomes in non-dialysis CKD patients, with over 3500 adult patients at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust since 2002, and followed up annually.
The primary aim of this research is to investigate the key factors that affect the hazard for the end- points of interest: end-stage renal failure; acute cardiovascular event; death. Risk-factors under consideration include laboratory-measured blood biomarkers and routinely available clinical and socio-demographic variables. Progression towards end-stage renal failure is known to vary among primary renal disease types. We therefore aim to identify the key factors that determine the rate of loss of kidney function both between and within primary renal disease types.
This project is funded by the Medical Research Council and is a collaboration with Phil Kalra of the Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust.