title: Prevalence of anemia in predialysis chronic kidney disease patients.
abstract: To evaluate the prevalence of anemia in a large cohort that comprises patients in different stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), we conducted a multi-center cross-sectional study of a cohort of CKD patients who have not started dialysis. The study patients were recruited from the nephrology clinics in 11 different medical centers distributed all over the regions of the KSA. For the estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR), we used the Chronic Kidney Disease-Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation. There were 250 study patients who fulfilled the criteria for the study. The patients were stratified according to their GFR as follows: stage 1: 19 patients, stage 2: 35 patients, stage 3: 67 patients, stage 4: 68 patients, and stage 5: 61 patients. The composite of proteinuria and abnormal imaging in stages 1 and 2 was satisfied in 100% of the cases. The prevalence of anemia was elevated for the hemoglobin levels below 12 g/dL (the level at which the evaluation of anemia in CKD should be initiated) in the different stages of CKD, that is, 42%, 33%, 48%, 71%, and 82% in the stages from 1 to 5, respectively. The prevalence was also elevated for the hemoglobin levels below 11 g/dL (the minimum hemoglobin level at which therapy should be initiated with erythropoietin), that is, 21%, 17%, 31%, 49%, and 72%, respectively for stages from 1 to 5. In conclusion, we found a large prevalence of anemia among the CKD population in Saudi Arabia, and the burden of patients who require treatment with erythropoietin is considerably large. However, the response to therapy will not require large doses according to the availability of long-acting erythropoiesis stimulating agents, which will render the therapy more convenient and less expensive.
authors.affiliation: Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. famshaheen@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Fsissal A M
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Shaheen
authors.forename: Muhammad Ziad
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Souqiyyeh
authors.forename: Besher Adib
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Al-Attar
authors.forename: Ayman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karkar
authors.forename: Ayman Mohammad Hikmat
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Al Jazairi
authors.forename: Laila Siraj
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Badawi
authors.forename: Omar Mahmoud
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Ballut
authors.forename: Ali Hassan
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Hakami
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naguib
authors.forename: Mohammed Attiah
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Al-Homrany
authors.forename: Majdah Yasin
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Barhamein
authors.forename: Adel Mansoor
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Maher Mohammad
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Khardaji
authors.forename: Said Abduslam
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Said
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000740:Anemia / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005919:Glomerular Filtration Rate; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D051436:Renal Insufficiency, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins