Epidemiology of Diabetic Kidney Disease among US Veterans

With a large number of patients and high mortality, diabetic kidney disease (DKD) imposes a significant burden on US health care. Although diabetes is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease and complications, the epidemiology of DKD in the contemporary US veteran population is generally unknown.

We aimed to estimate the rate of DKD progression and to measure the general epidemiology of DKD in the United States veteran population.

We performed a retrospective observational research using electronic health-care records and administrative databases.

The DKD patient cohort was abstracted from the Veterans Health Administration health-record data from January 2016 to March 2022.

We defined DKD patients using the laboratory test data based on Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) clinical practice guidelines.

Summary statistics include the five-year cumulative incidence of progression to an advanced stage from the DKD stage at the cohort entry date and prevalence at a series of single time points.

A total of 685,288 patients (male [96%], mean age 62 years, Caucasian [64%], non-Hispanic [87%]) met our eligibility criteria. The 5-year cumulative incidence of progression to an advanced DKD stage or all-cause death from DKD stages G1 A2/A3, G2 A2/A3, G3a, and G3b were 52.0%, 47.4%, 50.5%, and 60.9%, respectively. In sum, 594,082 patients were classified as moderate or high risk as per KDIGO guidelines in 2021, and stages G3a and G3b accounted for 51.2% and 25.3%, respectively, of cases.

More than half of DKD patients underwent a stage progression or death within 5 years. A substantial number of DKD patients at an earlier stage might be left undetermined. The study findings warrant a revision of DKD patient identification and management in US veterans.