The prevalence of chronic kidney disease of uncertain etiology in the subtropical highland of sri lanka; a community prevalance study

Abstract

Introduction and objective Few cases with CKD of unknown etiology has been reported from “Bagawanthalawa” plantation sectors in the recent past. The objective was to studyCKDuprevalence in a subtropical highlandcommunity. Method A population of 1400, >18 years aged males and females who live in four estate divisions in Bagawanthalawa were invited to participate in CKD screening by the Medical Officer of Health. The population was screened as per current CKDu screening guidelines in Sri Lanka. Screening was held on the 13th of March 2016. Overnight spot urine was collected. Brief medical history, blood pressure, urine for dipstick proteinuria, serum creatinine(SCr) and random blood sugar were recorded.Dipstick proteinuria >1+ or high SCr(>1.3 and >1.1 mg/dl for male and females respectively) or both positive cases were diagnosed as CKDu after excluding known causes of CKD. Results A total of 453 people responded for the call. There were 286 females and 167 males. 91.3% were estate laborers. Six males and five females, totally 11 cases found to have either proteinuria or elevated SCr or both. 4 cases were known hypertensive and preliminarily diagnosed as CKD. Five cases with only proteinuria and two cases with only elevated SCrwere preliminarily diagnosed as CKDu that their past medical history was uneventful.CKDu and CKD/CKDu prevalence inthe screened populationwas 1.5% and 2.4% respectively. Conclusion The positive cases will be followed up to confirm the diagnosis and further management. The CKDu prevalence is low in the wet zone of Sri Lanka.