#4018 CHARACTERISATION OF THE CLINICAL, HUMANISTIC AND ECONOMIC BURDEN OF ANAEMIA IN CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW
Authors: Sackeyfio Alfred , Gupta Digant , Kaur Amandeep , Camejo Rodrigo Refoios 
Published: June 2023

Background and Aims

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is defined as structural kidney damage and/or decreased kidney function (glomerular filtration rate &lt;60mL/min/1.73 m2) persisting for ≥3 months [1]. Anaemia is a frequent CKD comorbidity associated with increased cardiovascular (CV) morbidity, mortality, reduced health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and greater healthcare resource utilisation (HRU) [2]. Our systematic literature review provided an overview of the clinical, humanistic and economic burden of anaemia of CKD.

Method

A search was performed in MEDLINE, EMBASE, MEDLINE IN-PROCESS, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from database inception to 10 April 2022, using predefined criteria to identify cohort, cross-sectional, observational and cost studies, economic evaluations, conceptual model studies, systematic and literature reviews (complemented by grey literature and congress abstract searches and back-referencing relevant review papers [2016–2021]). Full-text selected citations were examined by two independent reviewers. Clinical burden parameters included CKD progression, differences in progression between patients with/without CKD anaemia, time to blood transfusion and association of CKD stage/progression with CV outcomes or mortality. Humanistic burden included HRQoL and caregiver burden. Economic burden was determined by HRU and direct/indirect costs.

Results

Data were extracted from 115 studies (12,109 database records, 79 supplementary items; Figure 1), including patients: pre- or non-dialysis (n = 61), on dialysis (n = 21), mixed non-/on dialysis (n = 19) and unknown dialysis status (n = 14). Incidence of advanced CKD was significantly higher in adult non-dialysis dependent (NDD) patients with anaemia of CKD vs those without (incidence per 1000 person-years: 15 to ∼85 vs 3 to ∼25). Patients with CKD anaemia had a higher risk of disease progression than those without anaemia (n = 21), e.g. non-dialysis stage 1–5 adults with CKD anaemia had ∼double the risk of developing end-stage CKD (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval [CI]] = 2.08 [1.50–2.89]). Median time to dialysis initiation was significantly lower in adult NDD stage 1–5 patients with anaemia of CKD vs those without anaemia (45.1 vs 68.3 months p&lt;0.01). A higher proportion of stage 3 adult NDD patients with anaemia of CKD progressed to stage 4 or 5 over follow-up periods of 1, 2 and 3 years vs those without anaemia (40% vs 20%; 60% vs 25%; 75% vs 30%, respectively). Available data from the 43 studies reporting humanistic burden suggested significantly worse HRQoL in patients with vs without CKD anaemia; e.g. non-dialysis adults with CKD anaemia had worse 36-item kidney disease and QoL scores for symptoms/problems, effect- and burden-of CKD. Comparative caregiver burden data in patients with/without CKD anaemia were limited. Limited available evidence from an economic perspective suggested higher HRU in patients with anaemia of CKD vs those without. Patients with anaemia of CKD has ∼2 times greater risk of hospitalisation due to heart failure vs those without (crude incidence rate ratio [95% CI] = 1.9 [1.6–2.1]). Similarly, patients with anaemia of CKD has significantly higher risk of hospitalisations (adjusted relative risk [ARR] [95% CI] = 1.33 [1.31–1.34]) and emergency department visits (ARR [95% CI] = 1.14 [1.12–1.15]) in a multivariate logistic regressions model. No data were available on change in economic parameters over time or on inter-relationships between humanistic/economic burden parameters. There were no published disease models in CKD anaemia; Figure 2 illustrates identified relationships between clinical, humanistic and economic burden parameters.

Conclusion

Based on limited moderate-to-good quality data, we found that patients with CKD anaemia face greater clinical, humanistic and economic burdens than those without anaemia, with significantly worse HRQoL and greater HRU. CKD anaemia was also associated with a higher risk of CKD progression.