Authors' objectives:

The purpose of this report is to evaluate the US Social Security Administration's (SSA's) current Listing of Impairments ('Listings') for determining disability in individuals with chronic renal failure (CRF).

Authors' recommendations: This study found that neither the published literature nor the DMMS Wave 2 data could be used to answer the key question posed by the SSA. The primary limitation of the DMMS database arose because, although 4,026 patients were initially included, approximately 43% were over age 65, and not eligible analysis, and an additional 37% were lost to followup. This reduced the data set to a small number of patients and a large number of potentially relevant variables. This, combined with the different results obtained with randomly selected halves of the database rendered the results of the analysis unreliable. Currently available evidence does not allow the key questions of the report to be answered. This would require a large-scale prospective study of patients who are followed rigorously for at least 1 year to monitor their functional, physiological and disability status.

Authors' methods: Systematic review, analysis of patient data,

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/renalsum.htm

Year Published: 2000

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: United States

Organisation Name: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Contact Address: Center for Outcomes and Evidence Technology Assessment Program, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850, USA. Tel: +1 301 427 1610; Fax: +1 301 427 1639;

Contact Name: martin.erlichman@ahrq.hhs.gov

Contact Email: martin.erlichman@ahrq.hhs.gov

Copyright: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)