THE CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE IN AFRICA (CKD-AFRICA) COLLABORATION: A NEW PAN-AFRICAN NETWORK

Objective: Evidence points to an increasing prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) across Africa, particularly in high-risk groups, like those with hypertension, diabetes, and HIV. However, there has not been a concerted, Africa-wide, effort to provide estimates to inform health services planning and policy development to address CKD. The CKD-Africa Collaboration seeks to fill this gap by collating data, at individual participant data (IPD) level, from African studies. The main aims of this platform are, (1) to utilize the available data from relevant prevalence studies of CKD, to provide updated and comprehensive syntheses on the burden of CKD in Africa, and (2) to link investigators in the field of CKD epidemiology and prevention, by providing a platform to plan future observational and interventional studies on CKD in Africa. Design and method: Establishing the CKD-Africa Collaboration followed a stepwise approach, through the identification of data sources, developing the database platform, and acquiring and processing participant-level data. Inclusion criteria: 1) observational study with primary data; 2) ethical approval; 3) minimum sample size of 300 participants and 4) participants of African descent residing in Africa. Results: To date, we have curated data from 42 studies conducted in 12 African countries, with a total of 37,842 participants (Fig.). The sample sizes ranges between 300 and 2,543 per study, with adults aged 18 to 100 years. In 36% of the studies data collection took place before 2010, with the remaining 64% sampled between 2010 and 2017. Overall, 74.6% of the IPD were sampled from the general population, with CKD prevalence estimates ranging from 1% to 22%. The remaining IPD were from high-risk populations, including people with hypertension, diabetes, HIV, and first-degree relatives of people with CKD. All studies used serum creatinine to estimate glomerular filtration rate, with 85.7% of these studies employing the Jaffe method. fx155 Conclusions: This network has far-reaching potential for Africa, as it is in an ideal position to test hypotheses and compare findings across geographical and national boundaries, and to generate a new understanding of CKD progression and its complications in this under-researched context.