Research Outputs
Supportive care for end-stage kidney disease: An integral part of kidney services across a range of income settings around the world
A key component of treatment for all people with advanced kidney disease is supportive care, which aims to improve quality of life and can be provided alongside therapies intended to prolong life, such as dialysis. This article addresses the key considerations of supportive care as part of integrated end-stage kidney disease care, with particular attention paid to programs in low- and middle-income countries. Supportive care should be an integrated component of care for patients with advanced chronic kidney disease, patients receiving kidney replacement therapy (KRT), and patients receiving non-KRT conservative care. Five themes are identified: improving information on prognosis and support, developing context-specific evidence, establishing appropriate metrics for monitoring care, clearly communicating the role of supportive care, and integrating supportive care into existing health care infrastructures. This report explores some general aspects of these 5 domains, before exploring their consequences in 4 health care situations/settings: in people approaching end-stage kidney disease in high-income countries and in low- and middle-income countries, and in people discontinuing KRT in high-income countries and in low- and middle-income countries.
A small contribution to mitigate the collision of transmissible and chronic diseases, exemplified by the management of hypertension during the COVID-19 pandemic
We want to take up the challenge posed by Nadar and cols. in their May editorial about managing hypertension during the COVID-19 pandemic [1]. Their concern that patients with chronic illnesses would be forgotten in the fight against the paradigm of a transmissible virus and result in collateral damage reached the public domain since June [2]. In mid October the number of new confirmed cases is still increasing in the Americas, South-East Asia and Europe according to the World Health Organization [3]; lockdowns have been reinstalled in various zones and widely available vaccines are far from around the corner. In the present situation it is urgent to mitigate the collision of non-transmissible conditions with the rapid spread of the novel COVID infection by new patterns of interaction between all the protagonists involved in health care.
Challenges for sustainable end-stage kidney disease care in low-middle-income countries: The problem of the workforce
Prevention and early detection of kidney diseases in adults and children should be a priority for any government health department. This is particularly pertinent in the low-middle-income countries, mostly in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean, where up to 7 million people die because of lack of end-stage kidney disease treatment. The nephrology workforce (nurses, technicians, and doctors) is limited in these countries and expanding the size and expertise of the workforce is essential to permit expansion of treatment for both chronic kidney disease and end-stage kidney disease. To achieve this will require sustained action and commitment from governments, academic medical centers, local nephrology societies, and the international nephrology community.
Conservative kidney management and kidney supportive care: Core components of integrated care for people with kidney failure
Integrated kidney care requires synergistic linkage between preventative care for people at risk for chronic kidney disease and health services providing care for people with kidney disease, ensuring holistic and coordinated care as people transition between acute and chronic kidney disease and the 3 modalities of kidney failure management: conservative kidney management, transplantation, and dialysis. People with kidney failure have many supportive care needs throughout their illness, regardless of treatment modality. Kidney supportive care is therefore a vital part of this integrated framework, but is nonexistent, poorly developed, and/or poorly integrated with kidney care in many settings, especially in low- and middle-income countries. To address this, the International Society of Nephrology has (i) coordinated the development of consensus definitions of conservative kidney management and kidney supportive care to promote international understanding and awareness of these active treatments; and (ii) identified key considerations for the development and expansion of conservative kidney management and kidney supportive care programs, especially in low resource settings, where access to kidney replacement therapy is restricted or not available. This article presents the definitions for conservative kidney management and kidney supportive care; describes their core components with some illustrative examples to highlight key points; and describes some of the additional considerations for delivering conservative kidney management and kidney supportive care in low resource settings.
Nephrologists' perspectives on the impact of COVID-19 on caring for patients undergoing dialysis in Latin America: A qualitative study
Objective To describe the experiences of nephrologists on caring for patients undergoing in-centre haemodialysis during the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America. Design Twenty-five semistructured interviews were conducted by Zoom videoconference in English and Spanish languages during 2020 until data saturation. Using thematic analysis, we conducted line-by-line coding to inductively identify themes. Setting 25 centres across nine countries in Latin America. Participants Nephrologists (17 male and 8 female) were purposively sampled to include diverse demographic characteristics and clinical experience. Results We identified five themes: shock and immediate mobilisation for preparedness (overwhelmed and distressed, expanding responsibilities to manage COVID-19 infection and united for workforce resilience); personal vulnerability (being infected with COVID-19 and fear of transmitting COVID-19 to family); infrastructural susceptibility of dialysis units (lacking resources and facilities for quarantine, struggling to prevent cross-contamination, and depletion of personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies); helplessness and moral distress (being forced to ration life-sustaining equipment and care, being concerned about delayed and shortened dialysis sessions, patient hesitancy to attend to dialysis sessions, being grieved by socioeconomic disparities, deterioration of patients with COVID-19, harms of isolation and inability to provide kidney replacement therapy); and fostering innovative delivery of care (expanding use of telehealth, increasing uptake of PD and shifting focus on preventing syndemics). Conclusion Nephrologists felt personally and professionally vulnerable and reported feeling helpless and morally distressed because they doubted their capacity to provide safe care for patients undergoing dialysis. Better availability and mobilisation of resources and capacities to adapt models of care, including telehealth and home-based dialysis, are urgently needed.
Diseño y validación de una escala de autopercepción de conocimientos básicos sobre telesalud y competencias digitales para estudiantes del área de Ciencias de la Salud
Introducción: las características de la telesalud y telemedicina plantean un desafío para su inserción exitosa en el currículo de formación profesional en las áreas de la salud. Hasta la fecha, no se han realizado investigaciones que aborden la integración de la telesalud y telemedicina en el currículo académico de las universidades chilenas. Objetivo: diseñar un instrumento que permita medir la autopercepción de los estudiantes del área de ciencias de la salud en relación con su nivel de conocimientos de aspectos básico sobre telesalud y competencias digitales. Método: se diseñó un instrumento de 12 ítems con una escala Likert de 0 a 7, conformado por dos dimensiones: Elementos básicos asociados a la telesalud (7 ítems) y habilidades asociadas al uso de tecnologías (5 ítems). Se aplicó a 308 estudiantes de cinco universidades chilenas del área de ciencias de la salud, la muestra fue no probabilística intencionada. Resultados: se obtuvo un Alpha de Cronbach de 0,9035 para la dimensión 1 y de 0,9729 para la dimensión 2. El análisis factorial confirmó la existencia de las dos dimensiones planteadas. Conclusiones: el instrumento diseñado permite medir el nivel percibido de los estudiantes de ciencias de la salud con relación a los elementos básicos asociados a la telesalud y las habilidades para el uso de tecnologías.
Using Telenephrology to Improve Access to Nephrologist and Global Kidney Management of CKD Primary Care Patients
Increasing access to integrated ESKD care as part of universal health coverage
The global nephrology community recognizes the need for a cohesive strategy to address the growing problem of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). In March 2018, the International Society of Nephrology hosted a summit on integrated ESKD care, including 92 individuals from around the globe with diverse expertise and professional backgrounds. The attendees were from 41 countries, including 16 participants from 11 low- and lower-middle–income countries. The purpose was to develop a strategic plan to improve worldwide access to integrated ESKD care, by identifying and prioritizing key activities across 8 themes: (i) estimates of ESKD burden and treatment coverage, (ii) advocacy, (iii) education and training/workforce, (iv) financing/funding models, (v) ethics, (vi) dialysis, (vii) transplantation, and (viii) conservative care. Action plans with prioritized lists of goals, activities, and key deliverables, and an overarching performance framework were developed for each theme. Examples of these key deliverables include improved data availability, integration of core registry measures and analysis to inform development of health care policy; a framework for advocacy; improved and continued stakeholder engagement; improved workforce training; equitable, efficient, and cost-effective funding models; greater understanding and greater application of ethical principles in practice and policy; definition and application of standards for safe and sustainable dialysis treatment and a set of measurable quality parameters; and integration of dialysis, transplantation, and comprehensive conservative care as ESKD treatment options within the context of overall health priorities. Intended users of the action plans include clinicians, patients and their families, scientists, industry partners, government decision makers, and advocacy organizations. Implementation of this integrated and comprehensive plan is intended to improve quality and access to care and thereby reduce serious health-related suffering of adults and children affected by ESKD worldwide.
First SLANH-COLABIOCLI Consensus Recommendations (Latin American Association of Nephrology and Hypertension - Latin American Confedera- tion of Clinical Biochemistry) Report on the estimated glomerular filtration rate together with creatinine determination in an adult population
La enfermedad renal crónica (ERC) es de alta prevalencia en América Latina y en todo el mundo. Se estima que entre 10 y 20% de la población adulta es portadora de ERC y su prevalencia va en aumento. La ERC progresa en forma silenciosa. Su diagnóstico temprano y oportuno permite iniciar un tratamiento efectivo, en la mayoría de los casos, para detener la enfermedad. Desde hace mucho tiempo, el análisis de la creatininemia es la principal prueba utilizada para valorar la función renal, pero su confiabilidad es limitada. De acuerdo con las recomendaciones de las GUIAS KDOQI del año 2002 la tasa de filtración glomerular estimada (TFGe) obtenida a través de fórmulas, se estableció como una de las herramientas principales para detectar la enfermedad renal de manera precoz, ya que alerta de forma precisa al médico y al equipo de salud sobre el nivel de función renal del paciente. La detección de una TFGe disminuida (menor de 60 mL/min/1,73 m2) es clínicamente relevante, ya que permite establecer el diagnóstico de enfermedad renal en adultos. En el año 2022, en una encuesta realizada por SLANH y COLABIOCLI dirigida a los laboratorios de análisis clínicos de América Latina (n: 237), el 49% de los mismos no informaban la TFGe rutinariamente. En base a esta realidad SLANH y COLABIOCLI elaboraron estas recomendaciones de consenso en referencia al uso de la TFGe.