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Study links frequency of laboratory testing with mortality, hospitalization in patients with ESRD
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According to a study published in Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, patients with chronic kidney disease who underwent more frequent laboratory testing experienced better clinical outcomes post-dialysis.
“We found that more frequent laboratory assessment of commonly used biomarkers was associated with improved outcomes in patients with advanced [chronic kidney disease] CKD,” Csaba P. Kovesdy, MD, a co-author of the study of the division of nephrology from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, told Healio Nephrology.
Investigators identified 23,089 patients with available outpatient lab tests performed during a 2-year pre-dialysis period. Researchers examined potential links between serum creatinine, serum potassium and hemoglobin (test trio) with post-dialysis mortality and hospitalization using multivariable adjusted Cox and logistic regression models. Investigators found 14% of the patients had the test trio performed less than twice in the 2-year period, while 8.9% had the trio measured more often than every other month during the study. Researchers noted 66.3% of patients died during the follow-up period.
“The adjusted hazard ratio of all-cause mortality and adjusted odds ratio of the composite of hospitalization or death associated with lab testing done [greater than] 12/24months compared with 2-[equal to or less than] 4/24 months were 0.68 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.65-0.73] and 0.70 (95% CI 0.62-0.79), respectively,” the authors wrote.
The researchers speculated that the association between frequent application of the test trio and improved post-end-stage renal disease outcomes could be attributed to better detection and management of the conditions.
“Since our study was observational, we can only speculate about the potential mechanisms to explain these findings,” Kovesdy said. “One such hypothesis is that the assessment of these biomarkers may have led to more frequent uncovering of clinically relevant abnormalities, which could then have triggered therapeutic interventions. Our findings support recommendations to increase the frequency of follow-up and evaluation of patients with advancing stages of CKD.” – by Jake Scott
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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