Population-based screening for family history of end-stage renal disease among incident dialysis patients.
BACKGROUND
We determined the familial aggregation of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in a large, population-based sample of incident ESRD cases to assess the feasibility of developing a targeted screening and prevention program directed at members of families at high risk for kidney disease.


METHODS
Between January 1, 1995, and December 31, 2003, incident dialysis patients in ESRD Network 6 facilities were asked to complete a voluntary questionnaire on family history (FH) of ESRD. Cases with ESRD attributed to Mendelian diseases or urologic causes were excluded. FH was considered present if first- or second-degree relatives had ESRD. De-identified FH data were collated with demographic data at dialysis initiation.


RESULTS
More than 46% of eligible patients (25,883/55,929) provided FH information and 22.8% (5,901/25,883) of these reported having a FH of ESRD. FH of ESRD was positively associated with female gender, earlier age at ESRD onset, and primary cause of ESRD, and negatively associated with white race. FH associations with age, race, gender, and primary cause of renal failure remained statistically significant after simultaneous adjustment in a multivariate logistic regression model.


CONCLUSIONS
Approximately 23% of incident dialysis patients have close relatives with ESRD. Far more are likely to have relatives with clinically silent proteinuria or chronic kidney disease (CKD), both risk factors for future cardiovascular events and ESRD. Physicians caring for patients with CKD should be aware of the marked familial aggregation of ESRD and consider focusing screening efforts on high-risk family members in an attempt to slow the exponential growth rate of kidney disease.
Freedman
Barry I
BI
Department of Internal Medicine, Section on Nephrology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1053, USA. bfreedma@wfubmc.edu
Volkova
Nataliya V
NV
Satko
Scott G
SG
Krisher
Jenna
J
Jurkovitz
Claudine
C
Soucie
J Michael
JM
McClellan
William M
WM
D001741:Black or African American / Q000208:ethnology; D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D040941:Heredity; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D015144:Southeastern United States / Q000453:epidemiology