Sex-specific temporal trends in incidence and prevalence of chronic kidney disease: a Danish population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND

Rates of chronic kidney disease (CKD) may change with ageing populations, rising metabolic and cardiovascular disease prevalence, increasing CKD awareness and new treatments. We examined sex-specific temporal trends in CKD incidence and prevalence from 2011 through 2021.

METHODS

We conducted a population-based cohort study among adults residing in the North and Central Denmark Regions (population ∼1.5 million in 2021), utilizing routinely collected individual-level laboratory data. We identified individuals with incident or prevalent CKD, using data on plasma creatinine and urine albumin-creatinine ratios from samples performed in outpatient hospital settings or primary care. We estimated annual sex-specific crude and age-standardized incidence and prevalence and tabulated clinical characteristics.

RESULTS

Throughout 2011-2021, CKD incidence and prevalence remained higher among females than males. A transient increase in the crude incidence was observed during 2011-2013, followed by a decrease from 11.8 per 1000 person-years in 2013 [95% confidence interval (CI) 11.5-12.1] to 10.7 in 2021 (95% CI 10.5-11.0) among females and from 10.9 (95% CI 10.7-11.2) to 10.6 (95% CI 10.3-10.8) among males. During 2011-2021, the crude prevalence increased among females from 85.1 per 1000 individuals (95% CI 84.4-85.8) to 99.9 (95% CI 99.2-100.6), and among males from 55.3 (95% CI 54.7-55.9) to 82.4 (95% CI 81.8-83.0). After age standardization, declines in incidence persisted, while the prevalence was stable among females, and the increase persisted among males.

CONCLUSIONS

The CKD incidence and prevalence remained higher among females than males during 2011-2021. Despite a notable decline in incidence rates from 2013 onwards, the crude prevalence increased during 2011-2021.