Prevalence of chronic kidney disease and risk factors for its progression: A cross-sectional comparison of Indians living in Indian versus U.S. cities

• Published in: PloS one 2017-03, Vol.12 (3), p.e0173554-e0173554
• Main Authors: Anand, Shuchi, Kondal, Dimple, Montez-Rath, Maria, Zheng, Yuanchao, Shivashankar, Roopa, Singh, Kalpana, Gupta, Priti, Gupta, Ruby, Ajay, Vamadevan S, Mohan, Viswanathan, Pradeepa, Rajendra, Tandon, Nikhil, Ali, Mohammed K, Narayan, K M Venkat, Chertow, Glenn M, Kandula, Namratha, Prabhakaran, Dorairaj, Kanaya, Alka M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Age; Aged; Analysis; Arteriosclerosis; Atherosclerosis; Biology and Life Sciences; Blood pressure; Cardiovascular disease; Chronic illnesses; Chronic kidney failure; Cities; Cross-Sectional Studies; Demographics; Development and progression; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Disease control; Disease Progression; End-stage renal disease; Exercise; Female; Health aspects; Health care; Health risk assessment; Health risks; Humans; Hypertension; Immigrants; Income; India; Indians (Asian people); Internal medicine; Kidney diseases; Kidney Failure, Chronic - epidemiology; Kidney Failure, Chronic - pathology; Laboratories; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Metabolic disorders; Middle Aged; Nephrology; Prevalence; Prevalence studies (Epidemiology); Preventive medicine; Public health; Risk analysis; Risk Factors; Risk management; Studies; Systematic review; United States; Urban populations; Urbanization
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173554

While data from the latter part of the twentieth century consistently showed that immigrants to high-income countries faced higher cardio-metabolic risk than their counterparts in low- and middle-income countries, urbanization and associated lifestyle changes may be changing these patterns, even for conditions considered to be advanced manifestations of cardio-metabolic disease (e.g., chronic kidney disease [CKD]). Using cross-sectional data from the Center for cArdiometabolic Risk Reduction in South Asia (CARRS, n = 5294) and Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA, n = 748) studies, we investigated whether prevalence of CKD is similar among Indians living in Indian and U.S. cities. We compared crude, age-, waist-to-height ratio-, and diabetes- adjusted CKD prevalence difference. Among participants identified to have CKD, we compared management of risk factors for its progression. Overall age-adjusted prevalence of CKD was similar in MASALA (14.0% [95% CI 11.8-16.3]) compared with CARRS (10.8% [95% CI 10.0-11.6]). Among men the prevalence difference was low (prevalence difference 1.8 [95% CI -1.6,5.3]) and remained low after adjustment for age, waist-to-height ratio, and diabetes status (-0.4 [-3.2,2.5]). Adjusted prevalence difference was higher among women (prevalence difference 8.9 [4.8,12.9]), but driven entirely by a higher prevalence of albuminuria among women in MASALA. Severity of CKD--i.e., degree of albuminuria and proportion of participants with reduced glomerular filtration fraction--was higher in CARRS for both men and women. Fewer participants with CKD in CARRS were effectively treated. 4% of CARRS versus 51% of MASALA participants with CKD had A1c < 7%; and 7% of CARRS versus 59% of MASALA participants blood pressure < 140/90 mmHg. Our analysis applies only to urban populations. Demographic--particularly educational attainment--differences among participants in the two studies are a potential source of bias. Prevalence of CKD among Indians living in Indian and U.S. cities is similar. Persons with CKD living in Indian cities face higher likelihood of experiencing end-stage renal disease since they have more severe kidney disease and little evidence of risk factor management.