Dr Guofen Yan Considers Strategies for Improving CKD Outcomes in Minority Populations

Slowing progression of chronic kidney disease can help mitigate adverse outcomes in minority populations, said Guofen Yan, PhD, associate professor of biostatistics in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

Transcript:

Which strategies could be implemented to improve clinical outcomes in Black and Hispanic individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD)?

Now, that's very interesting because previously we knew of high incidence of kidney failure among minority groups. It has been documented well. But now we know the reason. The reason driving this high incidence is due to the faster progression of reduced kidney function after onset. So we now know the reason. The next focus is to develop a strategy on how we can slow the faster progression among the minority groups. This should be the focus in research, practice, health care policy, how we can develop a strategy to slow the progression. In order to slow the progression, one important strategy, we have been doing for years, is to identify the risk factors, particularly for the minority groups. For example, we know diabetes, we know hypertension are important risk factors for chronic kidney disease, but this affects all the people regardless of race. But what are the particular specific risk factors accounting for the faster progression in Blacks and Hispanics. It has not been really clear. So we need to focus on how we identify the risk factors, and particularly account for the faster progression among minority groups and develop a race tailored strategy to slow the progression. [This includes] particular early screening for risk factors. There are many risk factors we don't know yet. We need to focus our research and policy practice to understand what we can do to slow the progression for minority groups.