Assessing the effectiveness of therapy to prevent the progression of renal disease.
Most studies of progressive renal disease assess the effectiveness of therapy from sequential measurements of renal excretory function, such as glomerular filtration rate, creatinine clearance, and serum creatinine concentration. This review summarizes the strengths and limitations of these measurements and proposes guidelines for selecting the outcome measure in clinical trials. In addition, this review examines certain issues related to the design and interpretation of studies on the progression of renal disease. Although this work primarily addresses issues relevant to clinical trials, the principles involved are relevant to the assessment of renal function in clinical settings as well.
Levey
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AS
Division of Nephrology, New England Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA.
D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003404:Creatinine / Q000378:metabolism; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005919:Glomerular Filtration Rate; D006801:Humans; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control; D012107:Research Design; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D003404:Creatinine