Women with chronic kidney disease are more likely than men not diagnosed

Women are particularly vulnerable to delay their primary care physician to diagnose chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to a presentation at the American Society of Nephrology 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exhibition will be presented in San Diego, California. The results suggest that training could increase practitioners of CKD, the rapid diagnosis of chronic kidney disease, leading to improvements in patient care and saving Medicare dollars. Maya Rao, MD, Columbia University, examined records of nearly 900 patients in 18 rural community-based primary care clinics in Oregon to examine whether primary care physicians in patients with known renal insufficiency, CKD diagnosed accurately. Chronic renal failure is estimated that nearly 19 million adults in the United States and is usually diagnosed and treated in primary care. The analysis showed that 52.4 per cent of patients with CKD have a diagnosis to their records. Women diagnosed were more likely than men are, with the exception of the more advanced stages of kidney disease.

"Chronic kidney disease is widespread, is a high dollar health insurance and must be recognized early to begin an effective treatment plan. Without early diagnosis and treatment of the patient may need dialysis and more likely to suffer the associated consequences, such as heart disease, "said Dr. Rao." This study shows that the parts continue in the absence of physicians family, especially among women, and that higher education is needed to ultimately improve early detection and diagnosis. "

For measurement of renal function, called family doctors usually order a blood test for creatinine, but Dr. Rao said that alone is not a particularly accurate measure of renal function. The serum creatinine was also a formula that gives an estimate of filtration rate of kidneys (called the glomerular filtration rate or GFR), which is a much more accurate estimate of renal function. Women have a GFR less than men for the same level of serum creatinine. Thus, the same serum creatinine who seems normal at first for a man and a woman can result in kidney function in depressed women, a higher risk of kidney disease detected. In the study, laboratory reports that include automatic calculation of EGFR revealed no gender difference in the diagnosis of patients - including suggesting that the value of serum creatinine on all laboratory reports could improve the diagnosis of chronic kidney disease among women.