title: Kidney disease among children in sub-Saharan Africa: systematic review.
abstract: The global burden of kidney disease is increasing, and several etiologies first begin in childhood. Risk factors for pediatric kidney disease are common in Africa, but data regarding its prevalence are lacking. We completed a systematic review of community-based studies describing the prevalence of proteinuria, hematuria, abnormal imaging, or kidney dysfunction among children in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Medline and Embase were searched. Five hundred twenty-three references were reviewed. Thirty-two references from nine countries in SSA were included in the qualitative synthesis. The degree of kidney damage and abnormal imaging varied widely: proteinuria 32.5% (2.2-56.0%), hematuria 31.1% (0.6-67.0%), hydronephrosis 11.3% (0.0-38.0%), hydroureter 7.5% (0.0-26.4%), and major kidney abnormalities 0.1% (0.0-0.8%). Serum creatinine was reported in four studies with insufficient detail to identify the prevalence renal dysfunction. A majority of the studies were performed in Schistosoma haematobium endemic areas. A lower prevalence of kidney disease was observed in the few studies from nonendemic areas. Published data on pediatric kidney disease in SSA are highly variable and dependent on S. haematobium prevalence. More community-based studies are needed to describe the burden of pediatric kidney disease, particularly in regions where S. haematobium infection is nonendemic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Weill Bugando School of Medicine, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences, Mwanza, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Neema M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Kayange
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Weill Bugando School of Medicine, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences, Mwanza, Tanzania.|Center for Global Health, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Luke R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Smart
authors.affiliation: Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jacob E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Tallman
authors.affiliation: Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Emily Y
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: Center for Global Health, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Daniel W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
authors.affiliation: Samuel J. Wood Library/CV Starr Biomedical Information Center, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Pain
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Weill Bugando School of Medicine, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences, Mwanza, Tanzania.|Center for Global Health, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Robert N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Peck
mesh_terms: D017954:Africa South of the Sahara / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D003404:Creatinine / Q000097:blood; D006417:Hematuria / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011507:Proteinuria / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012553:Schistosomiasis haematobia / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D003404:Creatinine