title: Prevalence and risk factors of kidney disease in urban Karachi: baseline findings from a community cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is being increasingly recognized as a leading public health problem. However, there are limited data available with respect to prevalence of CKD in Pakistan, a developing South Asian country. The study presents the baseline findings of prevalence and risk factors for adult kidney disease in a Pakistani community cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 667 households were enrolled between March 2010 and August 2011 including 461 adults, aged 15 and older. Mild kidney disease was defined as estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR) ≥60 ml/min with microalbuminuria ≥ 30 mg/dl and moderate kidney disease was defined as eGFR <60 ml/min (with or without microalbuminuria).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall prevalence of kidney disease was 16.6% with 8.6% participants having mild kidney disease and 8% having moderate kidney disease. Age was significantly associated with kidney disease (p < 0.0001). The frequency of diabetes, hypertension and smoking differed significantly among the three groups, i.e., no kidney disease, mild kidney disease and moderate kidney disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study results suggest that the burden of kidney disease in this population is found considerable and comparable to neighboring developing countries. We believe that these results have critical implications on health and economics of these countries and due to the epidemic of diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, smoking and association with worsening poverty, further rapid growth is expected. There is an urgent need for early recognition and prevention strategies based on risk factors and disease trends determined through longitudinal research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, The Indus Hospital, Korangi Crossing, Karachi 75190, Pakistan. ashar.email@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ashar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alam
authors.forename: Farhana
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Amanullah
authors.forename: Naila
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Baig-Ansari
authors.forename: Ismat
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lotia-Farrukh
authors.forename: Faisal S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005919:Glomerular Filtration Rate; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D051436:Renal Insufficiency, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index