Detecting chronic kidney disease in diabetic adults by estimating glomerular filtration rate and Serum Creatinine

Objective: To assess CKD prevalence and risk factors including socio-demography among diabetics by estimating GFR rather than serum creatinine (sCr). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Dec. 15 2019 through Aug. 15 2020, among 800 diabetics attending tertiary diabetes centers, Baghdad. Data was collected by self-administered questionnaire. SPSS was used for data analysis by (mean, standard deviation and T-test) for quantitative variables and (frequency, percentage, Chi-square test and Kappa index) for qualitative variables. P-Value less than 0.05 was considered significant.  Results: 800 diabetics for last 5-40 years, 95.6% with type2. Aged 52.1±13.2 years, with male: female ratio 1.03:1, 63.6% were with no income, sCr level was 0.86±0.3 mg/dl, and eGFR by Cockcroft Gault (CG) and CKD-EPI equations was 100.4±36.5 & 92.2±25.5 ml/min/1.73m2 respectively. CKD prevalence based on sCr, and eGFR assessed by above equations was 13.3%, 20% and 15.9% respectively (p<0.001). Those with CKD were hypertensive, females, and living in peripheries. Conclusions: Diabetic patients, mainly those with risk factors are more likely to develop CKD. It is better to detect CKD intially by estimating the GFR, rather than serum creatinine level alone. Furthermore, using CKD-EPI equation might be better than the CG formula to estimate the GFR.