Cardiovascular and Mortality Risks in Young Health Screening Examinees With Marginal Estimated GFR

Additional evidence is necessary to interpret kidney function parameters in young adults, particularly in those with marginal estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) values. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the association between eGFR and adverse outcomes in general young adults.

We performed a nationwide retrospective cohort study using the health-screening database of South Korea. We included young adults aged 20-39 years without a history of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) or kidney failure, who underwent nationwide health screening in 2012. The study exposure was eGFR categorized into 15 ml/min per 1.73 m² intervals. The risks of all-cause mortality and MACE were calculated using Cox regression analysis, adjusted for various clinicodemographic characteristics.

In total, 3,132,409 young adults were included in this study. During a median follow-up of 7.3 years, marginal eGFR (60-75 ml/min per 1.73 m²) was not significantly associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.80 [0.74-0.87]). The results were similar for MACE outcomes (aHR, 0.94 [0.87-1.01]). Although the presence of dipstick albuminuria had a significant interaction with the association between eGFR categories and all-cause mortality (interaction term P = 0.028), the risks of all-cause mortality were not significantly higher (aHR, 0.98 [0.62, 1.55]) in those with albuminuria and eGFR 60-75 ml/min per 1.73 m².

Marginal eGFR was not associated with higher risks of all-cause mortality and MACE in general young adults. Additional clinical investigations for incidentally found marginal eGFR values may be discouraged in general young adults.