Introduction:
In recent years, reports in the lay press have highlighted an unusually high number of deaths due to kidney disease in a few villages of Gariyaband districts of Chhattisgarh. A recent case series of 12 patients from these villages have reported characteristics of CKD affecting these patients, however, the prevalence of CKD in these areas is still unknown. The present study estimated the prevalence of CKD in two endemic villages of Gariyaband district.
Methods:
The present study was a cross-sectional prevalence study done during a seven-day health camp in the villages of Supebeda and Pipalkhuta in Gariyaband district, Chhattisgarh, India in May 2023. The villages were selected due to increased reports of CKD in these villages. A line-list of all people more than 18 years of age was obtained by the health department of both villages. The participants were randomly selected by simple random sampling. Baseline socio-demographic and clinical data of participants were collected. Blood and urine samples were collected and analyzed. CKD was defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] values <60 ml/min/1.73m2. CKDu was defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] values of <60 ml/min/1.73m2, absent or subnephrotic proteinuria, absence of hematuria, diabetes, severe arterial hypertension (blood pressure <160/100 mmHg in untreated patients or <140/90 mmHg in patients receiving up to two antihypertensive drugs), any systemic illness, glomerulonephritis, or other urinary tract diseases.
Results:
Two hundred fifty-seven (18.9%) villagers were screened out of 1353 villagers, aged more than 18 years, in the two villages. The mean age of the study participants was 45.54 +14.86 years. Approximately half (n=124, 48%) were females.
The prevalence of CKD defined as GFR<60/ml/min was 23.3% (n=60). The majority of CKD were in Stage III CKD (N= 23, 10.6%) followed by Stage IV (n=14, 6.7%) and Stage V (n=4, 1.9%). Fifty-one (85%) patients fulfilled the definition of CKDu.
Almost one-third (n=90, 31.1%) of participants had hyponatremia defined as serum sodium less than 134 meq/L. Fifteen percent (n=39) of participants had hypokalemia.
Conclusions:
The study highlights the high prevalence of CKD in the outlined villages, most of which are not related to the traditional risk factors. Further studies for the evaluation of genetic and environmental risk factors in the concerned region should be planned.
I have potential conflict of interest to disclose.
The study was conducted by grants from MRHRU Jheet ,ICMR-NIRTH, Jabalpur
I did not use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process.