Background: Previous reports of chronic kidney disease (CKD) prevalence in Thailand varied from 4.3% to 13.8%. However, there were methodological concerns with these reports in terms of generalization and the accuracy of estimation. This study was, therefore, conducted to determine CKD prevalence and its risk factors in Thai adult populations.
Methods: The population-based Thai Screening and Early Evaluation of Kidney Disease (SEEK) study was conducted with cross-sectional stratified-cluster sampling. Serum creatinine was analysed using the modified Jaffe method and then standardized with isotope dilution mass spectrometry.
Results: The study included 3,459 subjects were included in the study. The mean age was 45.2 years (SE = 0.8), and 54.5% were female. Six hundred and twenty-six subjects were identified as having CKD, which evidenced an overall CKD prevalence of 17.5% [95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 14.6-20.4%]. The CKD prevalence of Stages I, II, III and IV were 3.3% (95% CI = 2.5%, 4.1%), 5.6% (95% CI = 4.2%, 7.0%), 7.5% (95% CI = 6.2%, 8.8%) and 1.1% (95% CI = 0.7%, 1.5%), respectively. The prevalence of CKD was higher in Bangkok, the Northern and Northeastern regions than in the Central and Southern regions. Seven factors (i.e. age, gender, diabetes, hypertension, hyperuricaemia, history of kidney stones and the use of traditional medicines) were associated with CKD. Only 1.9% of the subjects were aware that they had CKD.
Conclusions: CKD prevalence in the Thai population is much higher than previously known and published. Early stages of CKD seem to be as common as later stages. However, albuminuria measurement was not confirmed and adjusting for persistent positive rates resulted in the prevalence of 14.4%. Furthermore, the awareness of CKD was quite low in the Thai population.