September 23, 2021–In a joint press release, the National Kidney Foundation and the American Society of Nephrology announced that the joint task force on Reassessing the Inclusion of Race in Diagnosing Kidney Disease has completed its final recommendations and report. The final report was published online in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology and the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.
The task force has recommended the adoption of the 2021 CKD-EPI creatinine estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) equation that is refit to estimate kidney function without a race variable. They also recommend increase use of cystatin C combined with serum creatinine as a confirmatory assessment of GFR or kidney function.
NKF and ASN urge all laboratories and healthcare systems nationwide to adopt the new equation to estimate GFR as soon as possible. The associations also urge the Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDIGO) and Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDOQI) to develop updated guidelines to ensure a uniform approach that reflects the task force’s recommendations.
An updated eGFR calculator that uses the new equation to determine a race-free calculation to assess kidney function is available here.
© 2025 Mashup Media, LLC, a Formedics Property. All Rights Reserved.