Further development of the program on preventive health check-ups: screening for chronic kidney disease – a rapid review of benefits, harms and target populations
Giess D, Mayer-Ferbas J
Record ID 32018014598
English
Authors' objectives:
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major public health issue that often remains undiagnosed until the advanced stages. It is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity, premature mortality, and reduced quality of life. If left untreated, CKD can progress to end-stage renal disease, requiring dialysis or transplantation.
Authors' results and conclusions:
Evidence indicates that CKD can be identified in community care settings, particularly among high-risk individuals with risk factors such as diabetes or hypertension. Screening improved the detection of kidney function impairment and markers of early kidney damage; however, most studies reported only surrogate outcomes, with limited evidence on long-term or patient-relevant benefits. Key limitations were short follow-up, inconsistent diagnostic methods, and a lack of chronicity confirmation, potentially compromising diagnostic accuracy. Current guidelines favour targeted testing in high-risk groups rather than routine population screening. Strengthening CKD awareness and reinforcing guideline-based testing could improve early diagnosis and reduce disease burden. Routine kidney screening may be feasible within preventive programmes for high-risk groups, but broad population-wide implementation is not currently supported by evidence.
Authors' recommendations:
Strengthening CKD awareness and reinforcing guideline-based testing could improve early diagnosis and reduce disease burden. Routine kidney screening may be feasible within preventive programmes for high-risk groups, but broad population-wide implementation is not currently supported by evidence.
Details
Project Status:
Completed
Year Published:
2025
URL for published report:
https://eprints.aihta.at/1573/1/HTA-Projektbericht_Nr.170c.pdf
URL for additional information:
https://eprints.aihta.at/1573/
English language abstract:
An English language summary is available
Publication Type:
Rapid Review
Country:
Austria
MeSH Terms
- Kidney Failure, Chronic
- Kidney Diseases
- Mass Screening
- Early Diagnosis
- Program Development
- Program Evaluation
- Preventive Medicine
Keywords
- Chronic kidney disease (CKD)
- renal function
- albuminuria
- creatinine
- glomerular filtration rate (GFR)
- early detection
- national screening programme
Contact
Organisation Name:
Austrian Institute for Health Technology Assessment
Contact Address:
Josefstaedter Strasse 39, A-1080 Vienna, Austria
Contact Name:
office@aihta.at
Contact Email:
office@aihta.at
This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment from a member of INAHTA or other HTA producer. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database.