Abstract for presentation at Australia and New Zealand Society of Nephrology Annual Scientific Conference

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of CKD in a population-based sample of patients with type 2 diabetes in the Australian primary care setting.
Design, setting and participants: Expressions of interest (EOI) were invited from all registered GPs across Australia. 500 GP investigators were randomly selected, proportional to the census population. Investigators were requested to recruit 10-15 consecutively presenting adult patients with established type 2 diabetes, presenting during routine practice, irrespective of reason for visit. Participants were then assessed by history, physical examination and data from the most recent blood tests and urinalysis.
Results: 348 active investigators submitted data for 3893 individuals with type 2 diabetes (52% men; median age, 66 years; median duration of diabetes, 6 years). In the study sample, one out of every four patients attending their general practitioner had an eGFR <60 ml/min/1.73m2 (23.1%, 95% CI, 21.8-24.5%). Over one in three patients had an elevated urinary ACR (34.6%, 95% CI, 33.3-35.9%). There was an overlap of 10.4% of patients having both an eGFR <60 ml/min/1.73m2 and an elevated urinary ACR, meaning that almost every second patient with type 2 diabetes seen by their GP (47.1%, 95% CI, 45.8-48.4%) was complicated by CKD.
Conclusion: CKD is a common complication of type 2 diabetes, found in over half of all patients seeing their GP. Efforts to increase the recognition of CKD will result in a significant change to clinical practice and lead to improved care and survival of patients with type 2 diabetes.