Abstract Background Chronic kidney disease (CKD) can be diagnosed by estimating the glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) using serum creatinine-based equations, mainly CKD-EPI2009. The European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) recently supported adopting the European Kidney Function Consortium (EKFC) equation. Methods We compared eGFR values obtained using CKD-EPI2009 and EKFC in analytical records from a single lab corresponding to 216 637 individual adults receiving Primary and Specialized healthcare in 2023 in a catchment area in Madrid (Spain). Results Switching from CKD-EPI2009 to EKFC resulted in a 39.6% higher prevalence of low eGFR consistent with CKD G3-G5 (13.4% vs 9.6% in the full population and 36.3% vs 25.6% among people aged ≥ 65 years). Among 33 789 patients with albuminuria assessments, the prevalence of eGFR and albuminuria values consistent with CKD G1-G5 was 36.3% for EKFC and 32.5% for CKD-EPI2009. Among newly identified patients with potential CKD G3-G5, 25% had A2-A3 albuminuria. Differences in CKD prevalence between both equations were observed for men and women. According to National guidelines, in the first year after the switch, 0.33 to 0.58 full-time nephrologist equivalents would be needed to care for newly diagnosed patients with CKD in this catchment area, potentially resulting in 5 to 9 nephrologists needed for the Madrid region. Conclusion In this retrospective analysis, a switch from the creatinine-based CKD-EPI2009 to the EKFC eGFR equation would increase the prevalence of CKD, especially among the elderly. EKFC may identify patients with A2-A3 albuminuria as having CKD that may have been missed by CKD-EPI2009in healthcare systems with low uptake of albuminuria assessments.
Villalvazo et al. (Mon,) studied this question.