Patient Awareness of CKD: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Patient-Oriented Questions and Study Setting

Patient awareness of disease is the first step toward effective management and disease control. Awareness of chronic kidney disease (CKD) has consistently been shown to be low, but studies estimating patient awareness of CKD have used different methods. We sought to determine whether the estimated prevalence of CKD awareness differed by the wording used to ascertain awareness or by setting characteristics.

Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Adults with CKD not receiving dialysis.

We included studies that estimated CKD awareness, determined CKD status by laboratory criteria, and provided the exact question wording used to ascertain awareness.

2 reviewers independently extracted data for each study; discordance was resolved by a third independent reviewer.

Mixed-effects models were used to calculate pooled CKD awareness estimates and 95% CIs.

32 studies were included. Publication year ranged from 2004 to 2017, with study populations ranging from 107 to 28,923 individuals. CKD awareness in individual studies ranged from 0.9% to 94.0%. Pooled CKD awareness was 19.2% (95% CI, 10.0%-33.6%) overall and was 26.5% (95% CI, 11.9%-48.9%) among individuals with an estimated glomerular filtration rate < 60 mL/min/1.73 m². "Kidney problem" was the most sensitive question for CKD awareness (58.7%; 95% CI, 32.4%-80.8%); "weak or failing kidneys" was the least sensitive (12.3%; 95% CI, 4.5%-29.4%). CKD awareness was highest among patients from nephrology practices (86.2%; 95% CI, 74.9%-93.0%) and lowest in the general population (7.3%; 95% CI, 5.0%-10.5%).

Significant heterogeneity across studies overall and among examined subgroups of wording and study setting.

Differently worded questions may lead to widely different estimates of CKD awareness. Consistent terminology is likely needed to most effectively surveil and leverage CKD awareness to improve management and disease control.