NIDDK Announces Availability of More Current
Kidney Disease Data
Incidence and prevalence data for end-stage kidney disease in
the United States will be available online from the U.S. Renal
Data System a year earlier than usual, announces the National Institute
of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of
the National Institutes of Health. In addition, the data will be
updated online every three months and will show quarterly counts
of patients at www.usrds.org/qtr/qrt_report_table_new.html.
"These tables provide preliminary estimates, which may change
minimally as additional updates become available," said Paul
W. Eggers, Ph.D., who directs the NIDDK’s kidney and urology epidemiology
programs. "However, these frequent updates will allow researchers
to see and investigate trends sooner than previously possible."
The first of the new tables shows incidence and prevalence counts
through December 2008. As the tables are updated quarterly, an
additional three months of counts will be added. The next update
in December 2009 will include patient counts through March 2009.
Previously, incidence and prevalence data had been made available
only through yearly updates of the USRDS Annual Data Report (www.usrds.org/adr.htm).
Because the report includes detailed data from multiple sources,
reporting lagged by about 18 months while data were merged and
verified. For example, the 2009 report, which became available
this month, has complete data only through 2007.
Data from the USRDS is used by researchers, government officials,
health program planners, and others to develop research goals,
assess public health needs, set program priorities, and inform
policymakers and the public.
More than half a million people in the United States have end-stage
kidney disease, requiring frequent dialysis treatments or a kidney
transplant. People with the disease account for just 1.2 percent
of the Medicare population, but accounted for 7.3 percent of Medicare
costs in 2007. The total cost for the disease was $35.32 billion,
including coverage by Medicare and other payers, such as employer
group health plans.
The USRDS, funded by the NIDDK, collaborates with the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services, ESRD Networks and the United
Network for Organ Sharing in sharing datasets and improving the
accuracy of information.
NIDDK, part of NIH, conducts and supports basic and clinical research
and research training on some of the most common, severe and disabling
conditions affecting Americans. The Institute's research interests
include: diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic diseases; digestive
diseases, nutrition, and obesity; and kidney, urologic and hematologic
diseases. For more information, visit www.niddk.nih.gov.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's
Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and
Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting
and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research,
and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both
common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and
its programs, visit www.nih.gov. |