Reporting chronic kidney disease in Greenland

• Published in: International Journal of Circumpolar Health
• Main Authors: Lomstein, Fabian Bøgild, Kjærgaard, Marie, Skovgaard, Nils, Pedersen, Michael Lynge, Backe, Marie Balslev
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 2023
• Subjects: Original Research Article; Circumpolar Health; Greenland; greenlandic
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10519261/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37742312; https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2023.2261223

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major health burden affecting more than 10% of the global population. It is a multifactorial disease with many risk factors attributed lifestyle diseases. The prevalence of CKD in Greenland is unknown; however, the prevalence of risk factors contributing to CKD is increasing. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of CKD in Greenland. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional register-study including all Greenlandic residents aged ≥20 years with serum creatinine analysis within the last 2 years. We identified those with CKD based on eGFR and UACR and those registered with a CKD diagnosis code. Two limitations of the study are possible lack of data completeness and the reliance of a single time point to report CKD. Results: A total of 2,157 patients were identified with CKD with an age-standardised prevalence of 3.01%. Only 75 patients were registered with a diagnosis code for CKD. Approximately 80% of patients were classified with CKD stages 1–2. Conclusion: This is the first study reporting CKD in Greenland. We found a lower prevalence of CKD than reported by other studies, and a low number of patients correctly diagnosed with CKD. We call for increased awareness and diagnosis coding of CKD in Greenland.