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Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the main causes of mortality, morbidity and health costs in the world. It is estimated that approximately 843.6 million people were affected by this disease and 1.2 million people died in 2017. In Brazil, more than ten million people are thought to have CKD. Due to its asymptomatic nature during the early stages, most individuals suffering from CKD remain undiagnosed. In addition, a systematic review of the literature carried out in 2020 identified that CKD is more common among people with low incomes and low levels of education, as well as people from ethnic or racial minority backgrounds. This suggests that social inequality can influence the likelihood of developing CKD and can also affect the quality of treatment for the disease. In Brazil, although some social policies have been implemented with a focus on the most vulnerable groups, there is no evidence of inequality in CKD. Objective: To analyze social inequalities in the prevalence of CKD in Brazilians.
This is a cross-sectional household-based epidemiological survey, the National Health Survey (PNS), conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), in partnership with the Ministry of Health, in Brazil in 2019. The outcome analyzed was social inequality in the prevalence of CKD. The following variables were analyzed: sociodemographic characteristics (gender, age, schooling), lifestyle (physical activity) and self-reported chronic diseases (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia and cardiovascular diseases). The following were used as equity stratifiers: schooling (illiterate, complete primary school, complete secondary school, complete higher education and more) , gender (female and male) and race/color (white, black, brown and other). To present the inequalities in CVD according to schooling, equiplot graphs were generated. The statistical analyses and graphs were carried out using Stata/SE software version 15 (StataCorp LLC, College Station, United States), considering the sample design of the PNS (2019).
There is social inequality in the prevalence of CKD in the Brazilian population. Knowledge of the inequality in the prevalence of CKD in Brazil is essential for establishing measures to prevent and treat the disease, as well as for subsidizing public health policies.