Prevalence and risk factors of chronic kidney disease in South-Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo: a large-scale population study.

Abstract Background The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in African-Americans is high but whether this applies to native populations in sub-Saharan Africa is unclear. Methods In a cross-sectional study, we assessed the prevalence and risk factors of CKD in rural and urban adults in South-Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was estimated using the CKD-EPI equations based on serum creatinine (eGFRcr), cystatin C (eGFRcys) or both markers (eGFRcr-cys), without ethnic correction factor. CKD was defined as an eGFR Results A total of 1317 participants aged 41.1±17.1 years (730 rural, 587 urban) were enrolled. The prevalence of hypertension (20.2%; 95% CI, 18-22.3), diabetes mellitus (4.3%; 95% CI, 3.2-5.4) and obesity (8.9%; 95% CI 7.4-10.5) was higher in urban than rural participants (all P Conclusion Overall, the burden of CKD is substantial (\u003e11%), predominantly in the urban area, and largely driven by classical risk factors (gender, ageing, HIV, hypertension and diabetes).