title: Late diagnosis of chronic renal failure.
abstract: A comparison was made between patients with a late diagnosis of chronic renal failure (1 month or less before starting dialysis, N = 96) and those with an early diagnosis (6 months or more, N = 45) in terms of the following aspects: referral characteristics during the pre-dialysis phase, demographic details and patient biochemistry prior to maintenance dialysis. Information was obtained by surveying consecutive patients with primary renal disease admitted to a university dialysis unit in São Paulo. Fifty-three percent of all patients surveyed had a late diagnosis. These patients had a lower median duration of symptoms (2 vs 6 months, P < 0.01) and were less likely to be referred for dialysis by a nephrologist (9% vs 51%, P < 0.001) than early diagnosis patients. In the early diagnosis group, 7 patients (16%) had follow-up care for less than 6 months and 11 (24%) did not receive any follow-up; 21 patients (47%) did not follow a low-protein diet. At the start of dialysis, patients with a late diagnosis had higher blood pressure and a higher rate of pulmonary infections (19% vs 4%, P = 0.03). Mean concentrations of BUN, serum creatinine and potassium were significantly higher and mean blood hematocrit was lower for the late diagnosis group. After 3 months of dialysis, the mortality rate was higher in the late than in the early diagnosis group (22.9% vs 6.7%, P = 0.02). Late diagnosis of chronic renal failure and lack of adequate follow-up care, prior to the start of dialysis, are common. Interventions to promote early diagnosis of chronic renal failure and to improve compliance with regular nephrological follow-up can be important to reduce the morbidity and the mortality of patients with chronic renal insufficiency.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brasil.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sesso
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Belasco
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ajzen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D013997:Time Factors