MO548PREVALENCE AND INCIDENCE OF ANAEMIA IN PATIENTS WITH NON-DIALYSIS DEPENDENT (NDD) CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE (CKD), AND EVALUATION OF TREATMENT PATTERNS WITH ERYTHROPOIESIS-STIMULATING AGENTS (ESAS): A RETROSPECTIVE DATABASE STUDY IN ITALY
Authors: Di Rienzo Paolo , Snijder Robert , Degli Esposti Luca , Perrone Valentina , Todorova Lora 
Published: May 2021

Background and Aims

Anaemia is a common complication in patients with NDD-CKD, and its prevalence increases with advancing CKD stage.1,2 It is a risk factor for both CKD progression and other adverse outcomes, including major adverse cardiac events, hospitalisation and all-cause mortality.1 We aim to report the prevalence of NDD-CKD stage 3a–5 in Italy, and to evaluate the prevalence and incidence of anaemia among patients with NDD-CKD. Of those patients with anaemia, we seek to establish the size of the patient pool eligible for ESAs, and consequently, the proportion of patients treated with ESAs.

Method

Patients ≥18 years of age with a record of NDD-CKD stage 3a–5 between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2016 were identified from databases of five Local Health Units (LHUs) across Italy. NDD-CKD stage 3a–5 in our study was defined as either ≥1 hospitalisation record with discharge diagnosis of CKD (ICD-9-CM 585.x, where x = 3, 4, or 5) or ≥1 record of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) &lt;60 mL/min. eGFR values were estimated using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease method and were as reported by LHUs. Patient classification into CKD stage 3a–5 based on eGFR was done according to KDIGO guidelines.3 Anaemia was defined as Hb &lt;13 g/dL (males) or &lt;12 g/dL (females). Prevalence was defined as the presence of ≥1 record of NDD-CKD stage 3a–5 or anaemia in the entire period preceding the timepoint of interest, or as incident NDD-CKD/anaemia; incidence was defined as a first record of the condition in the year of interest (no record of the condition in the patient’s history). Point prevalence (at 31 December of each reported year) and annual incidence were age- and sex-standardised using census data from 1 January of the following year. Among patients with anaemia of NDD-CKD stage 3a–5, eligibility for ESA was defined as at least one record of Hb &lt;10 g/dL,4 and patients with a record of ESA prescription were categorised as ESA treated.

Results

For 2016, the prevalence of NDD-CKD stage 3a–5 in the population aged ≥18 years was 5.6% (83,625/1,507,391): CKD stage 3a was the most common (4.2%; 62,683/1,507,391), while the prevalence of each of the stages 3b–5 was ≤1.0% (Table). The prevalence and incidence of anaemia among patients with NDD-CKD stage 3a–5 in 2016 was 33.8% and 11.4%, respectively. The prevalence of anaemia increased with CKD stage: from 28.2% among patients with stage 3a to 78.9% among those with stage 5. A similar trend was observed for incidence, which increased from 9.3% for stage 3a to 32.8% for stage 5. The proportion of patients with NDD-CKD stage 3a–5 and anaemia who were eligible for ESA treatment from 2014–2016 ranged from 51.9% to 75.6% across the CKD stages. In 2016, the proportion of patients with incident NDD-CKD anaemia who were eligible for ESAs but not treated was 42.3%. This proportion was similar across the CKD stages, except for stage 5, for which the proportion of patients who were eligible but not ESA treated was 51.1%.

Conclusion

In Italy, we found that higher CKD stages are associated with increased prevalence and incidence of anaemia in NDD-CKD, a finding which is supported by previous research in other countries worldwide.1,2 Despite this, almost half of patients with anaemia of NDD-CKD stage 3a–5 were eligible for ESA treatment but did not receive ESAs. This suggests that anaemia may not be adequately controlled in patients with NDD-CKD stage 3a–5, and may need further attention and treatment.