Age- and sex-specific reference values of estimated glomerular filtration rate for European adults

Kidney function, often assessed by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), declines naturally with age. However, there is a lack of eGFR reference values to describe normal and abnormal values for a specific age. The European Chronic Kidney Disease Burden Consortium is comprised of nine participating general population-based studies from seven European countries which provides European age- and sex-specific eGFR reference values in healthy adults using the European Kidney Function Consortium (EKFC) equation. Of 2,572,020 individuals, 1,535,253 (60%) were considered healthy, of which 45% were men. Ages ranged from 18 to 105 years old in men and 18 to 107 years old in women with a median age of 43 years in both sexes. At age 20 in men, the 5^th, 50^th and 95^th eGFR percentiles were 78 ml/min per 1.73 m², 99 ml/min per 1.73 m², and 119 ml/min per 1.73 m². In 20-year-old women this was 81 ml/min per 1.73 m², 101 ml/min per 1.73 m², and 121 ml/min per 1.73 m². Consequently, in men aged 80 years old, the 5^th, 50^th and 95^th eGFR percentiles were 49 ml/min per 1.73 m², 66 ml/min per 1.73 m², and 84 ml/min per 1.73 m². In 80 year old women this was 46 ml/min per 1.73 m², 63 ml/min per 1.73 m², and 81 ml/min per 1.73 m². Overall, our study shows that eGFR is not preserved with ageing in healthy individuals and these eGFR reference values can help determine abnormal and normal kidney function across the age range.