GFR estimation in adolescents and young adults

The performance of creatinine-based equations to obtain the estimated GFR in adolescents and young adults is poorly understood. We assessed creatinine-based GFR estimating equations in a cross-section of 751 adolescents and young adults (1054 measurements), using inulin clearance (measured GFR [mGFR]) as the reference method. We evaluated the following: Cockcroft-Gault, four-variable Modified Diet in Renal Disease, and the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equations for adult participants, as well as the Schwartz 2009 and Schwartz-Lyon equations for pediatric age groups. Participants ranged in age from 10 to 26 years (mean 16.8 years); we divided the population into four groups according to age (10-12 years, 13-17 years, 18-21 years, and 21-25 years). Evaluation of the agreement between these formulas and mGFR (e.g., correlation, Bland-Altman plots, bias, and accuracy) showed that there was a good correlation between mGFR and both pediatric formulas in all age groups, whereas the adult formulas substantially overestimated mGFR. In conclusion, we recommend the use of pediatric equations to estimate GFR from childhood to early adulthood.