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. 2025 Mar;29(3):276-282.
doi: 10.1007/s10157-024-02570-y. Epub 2024 Oct 5.

Estimating the prevalence of chronic kidney disease in the older population using health screening data in Japan

Arisa Kobayashi  1   2 , Keita Hirano  1 , Tadahisa Okuda  1   3 , Tatsuyoshi Ikenoue  1   4 , Takashi Yokoo  2 , Shingo Fukuma  5   6
Affiliations

Estimating the prevalence of chronic kidney disease in the older population using health screening data in Japan

Arisa Kobayashi et al. Clin Exp Nephrol. 2025 Mar.

Abstract

Background: In aging societies, the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is expected to increase but may be underestimated because many asymptomatic patients remain undiagnosed. This study aimed to estimate the CKD prevalence among the general older population in Japan.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used health screening data from the Japan Health Insurance Association collected between April 2014 and March 2023. Data from older people aged 65-90 years who underwent renal function screening for estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and urine protein tests were analyzed. CKD was defined as eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 or proteinuria ≥ 1 + . Inverse probability weighting was used to account for the selection bias. The variables used for weighting were age, sex, insurance status, and the number of previous screenings.

Results: Among 2.98 million older individuals, 588,809 (19.7%) had undergone screening (median [IQR] age, 69.9 [67.9-76.2] years, 337,862 women [57.4%]). Regarding the weighted CKD prevalence, 25.3% of the individuals aged 65-90 years had CKD; 11.8% of those aged 65-75 years and 34.6% of those aged 75 years and over showed an increase in prevalence with age. Among the patients with CKD, over half exhibited mild renal dysfunction without proteinuria. Hypertension and diabetes were common comorbidities in older patients with CKD.

Conclusions: This cross-sectional study revealed that the weighted prevalence of CKD in the older population aged 65-90 years was high (one in four individuals), indicating that it increases with age. Further studies are required to examine the clinical significance of these findings.

Keywords: Chronic kidney disease; Inverse probability weighting; Older population; Prevalence; Selection bias.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors have declared that no conflict of interest exists. Ethical approval: Since we analyzed only anonymized data, the need for ethics committee approval and informed consent was waived. This study complied with the Declaration of Helsinki. Informed consent: As we analyzed only anonymized data, we waived the need for informed consent.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Prevalence of people diagnosed with CKD by age
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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