Anemia in CKD Projected to Increase 15% by 2025

NKF Spring Clinical Meetings 2021

Approximately 15% of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) experience anemia, putting them at increased risk of complications and reduced quality of life. During a virtual poster session at the NKF Spring Clinical Meetings 2021, Juan Jose Garcia Sanchez, MSc, MPharm, described Inside ANEMIA of CKD, a microsimulation model projecting the burden of the anemia in the United States to 2025. The poster was titled Inside ANEMIA of CKD: Microsimulation Modeling of the Epidemiological Burden of Anemia of CKD in the USA.

The model is a virtual cohort representing the population in the United States. Lise Retat, MSc, and colleagues created the model using US population statistics within the microsimulation model framework. Virtual individuals were assigned an age-sex specific CKD status (defined by estimated glomerular filtration rate and albuminuria levels) and anemia status (defined by hemoglobin level as mild, moderate, or severe per World Health Organization criteria).

The virtual individuals were also assigned key comorbidities, reflecting country-specific population statistics. The US Census Bureau, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were used to obtain demographic and epidemiological data. Incidence rates for cardiovascular complications were gathered from the literature.

In preliminary results, projections call for the number of individuals with CKD-related anemia in the United States to increase by approximately 15% from 2020 to 2025 (from 8.9 million to 10.7 million).  Cases of moderate-to-severe CKD-related anemia are projected to increase by approximately 26% by 2025. The model also projected an increase in cardiovascular complications by 2025 in the patient population with CKD-related anemia.

In summary, the authors said, “The Inside ANEMIA of CKD microsimulation model predicts a substantial increase in cases of anemia in CKD in the USA over the next 5 years, with a parallel increase in cardiovascular disease. Healthcare policies that help to identify and proactively manage patients with anemia of CKD may reduce this substantial burden to patients and the healthcare system.”

Source: Retat L, Webber L, Sanchez JJG, et al. Inside ANEMIA of CKD: microsimulation modeling of the epidemiological burden of anemia in CKD in the USA. Abstract of a poster presented at the National Kidney Foundation virtual Spring Clinical Meetings 2021 (Abstract #167), April 9, 2021.