Detection of Chronic Kidney Disease by Using Different Equations of Glomerular Filtration Rate in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Introduction Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global threat due to its high mortality. It is essential to know the actual magnitude of diabetic CKD to design a specific management program. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the most suitable equation to measure CKD in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This paper aimed to analyze estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) based on different equations to detect the CKD among T2DM.  Methods A hospital-based cross-sectional study was carried out, and a clinical registry was used to collect 4,042 T2DM patients from a large district hospital in Northeast Thailand. CKD patients were diagnosed when eGFR was less than 60 ml/min/1.73m2. Using Stata statistical software (StataCorp LP, College Station, TX), three standard equations, such as 'modification of diet in renal disease (MDRD-4)', 'chronic kidney disease epidemiology collaboration (CKD-EPI)', and 'Cockcroft-Gault (C-G)' equations, were used to produce eGFR values to report and compare stages of CKD. Results The mean age of the patients was 61.4 (± 10.7) years and male to female ratio was 1:1.9. According to the MDRD-4, CKD-EPI, and C-G equation, the prevalence of diabetic CKD was 21.4%, 21.9%, and 31.4%, respectively, and the frequency of CKD Stage 3 to 5 was found to be different among T2DM. About 3,789 (93.9%) measurements appeared to be classified as different stages of CKD (Stages 1 to 5) between MDRD-4 and CKD-EPI equations (kappa: 0.905; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.83 - 0.97, p < 0.001). However, this study found that the above-mentioned agreement was 70.9% between CKD-EPI and C-G equation (kappa: 0.56, 95% CI: 0.44 - 0.67, p < 0.001). Conclusions CKD-EPI equations can overcome the constraint of MDRD-4 and C-G equations to report CKD and can be used in patients with T2DM.