Clinical characteristics of chronic kidney disease patients with and without diabetes: A subanalysis of the PAERI study

Aims: Diabetes is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the United States, and cardiac disease is the primary cause of death in patients with CKD and diabetes, The Prevalence of Anemia in Early Renal Insufficiency (PAERI) study evaluated the prevalence of anemia and associated comorbidities in a community-based sample of patients with CKD. The purpose of this post hoc analysis was to identify differences, if any, in the prevalence and severity of anemia (hemoglobin ≤ 12 g/dl (120 g/l)) and other clinical characteristics between CKD patients with diabetes and patients with CKD who did not have diabetes. Materials and methods: The PAERI study was a prospective, cross-sectional, multicenter survey. Eligible patients were ≥ 18 years old with CKD, defined as serum creatinine 1.5-6.0 mg/dl (132.6-530.4 μmol/l) in females and 2.0-6.0 mg/dl (176.8 -530.4 μmol/l) in males within 12 months before enrollment. Study duration for each patient was a single site visit. Results: Of the original 5,222 patients enrolled, 3,361 had diabetes and 1,861 did not. A family history of diabetes was present in 72.7% of diabetic patients vs. 27.2% of nondiabetic patients (p < 0.0001). Patients with diabetes had a significantly higher prevalence of anemia (52.7 vs. 39.4%, p < 0.0001) and cardiac disease (55.7 vs. 42.9%, p < 0.0001). The prevalence of hypertension was high in both groups (91.5 and 89.3%). Significantly more diabetic patients than nondiabetic patients received anglotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (60.4 vs. 43.8%, p < 0.0001). Hyperlipidemia was more common in patients with diabetes (73.9 vs. 55.4%, p < 0.0001). Patients with diabetes were slightly younger and had a significantly higher mean body mass index and lower transferrin saturation compared with nondiabetic patients. In diabetic and nondiabetic patients, more than 97% had glomerular filtration rate < 60 ml/min/1.73 m² and more than 70% had serum creatinine < 2.5 mg/dl (221.0 μmol/l). Conclusions: These findings und erscore the extent and severity of concurrent illnesses in patients with both diabetes and CKD. In those patients, diabetes was associated with a greater prevalence of serious cardiac-related comorbidities than observed in nondiabetic patients.