American journal of kidney diseases : the official journal of the National Kidney Foundation
-
Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages 3-5 are at increased risk of progressing to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) or dying prior to the development of ESRD compared with patients with less severe CKD. The magnitude of these risks may vary by stage, which has important implications for therapy. Our objective was to apply a competing risk analysis in order to estimate these risks in a referred cohort of patients with CKD by stage at referral and identify risk factors associated with each outcome. ⋯ ESRD and death prior to ESRD incidence was most similar in CKD stage 4. We identified variables easily assessed at the time of referral that could discriminate between these risks.