Mortality risk and years of life lost for people with reduced renal function detected from regular health checkup: A matched cohort study.

With the increasing threat of metabolic syndromes, a focus on maintaining kidney health from early- to mid-adulthood is necessary. This study elucidates mortality risk and years of life lost (YLLs) due to abnormal renal function. This was a retrospective, matched cohort study from health checkup data from 2000 to 2015. We identified 12,774 participants with abnormal renal function (eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) and used propensity score matching to identify 25,548 participants with normal renal function (eGFR ≥ 60). YLLs were estimated using the life expectancy differences between the abnormal and matched normal cohorts. Cox models were used to estimate the adjusted mortality risk. The estimated life expectancy of participants with proteinuria and eGFR < 60 was 26.24 years, with a 95 % confidence interval of (23.96, 29.36), 17.62 (16.37, 18.78), and 11.70 (11.02, 12.46) for age groups of 30 - 54, 55 - 64, and 65 - 79 years, respectively. The estimated YLLs of participants with proteinuria and eGFR < 60, as compared with the matched normal cohort, were 17.86 (13.41, 20.36), 12.55 (11.41, 13.78), and 8.31 (7.47, 9.13) years for the three age groups, respectively. The Cox model estimates of mortality hazard ratios of participants having proteinuria and eGFR < 60 against matched referents were 5.29 (3.97, 7.05), 3.99 (3.34, 4.75), and 3.05 (2.62, 3.55) for the three age groups, respectively. Abnormal renal function shortens life expectancy, particularly in patients with proteinuria and in younger adults. Active health management of renal function can reduce the disease burden.

The Association Between Renal Function Decline and the Incidence of Urothelial Carcinoma: A 16-year Retrospective Cohort Study in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of cancer is higher among patients with end-stage renal disease but it remains uncertain whether a mild decrease in renal function affects cancer. OBJECTIVE: To measure the effect of impaired renal function, represented by the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), personal health behaviors, and long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) on the risk of urothelial carcinoma (UC) incidence. DESIGN SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: We performed a population-based cohort study of 372 008 participants aged ≥30 yr with no prior cancer history using the MJ health examination database (2000-2015) and UC diagnosis data from the Taiwan Cancer Registry database. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Cox proportional hazards models were used to quantify the association between eGFR and UC incidence. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: We detected 383 UC cases during a median follow-up of 10.3 yr. Low eGFR was significantly associated with UC (p value for trend <0.01): compared to eGFR ≥90 ml/min/1.73 m2, the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) was 1.36 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.98-1.88), 1.86 (95% CI 1.22-2.84), and 1.95 (95% CI 1.06-3.56) for eGFR strata of 60-89, 45-59, and <45 ml/min/1.73 m2, respectively. The risk remained elevated after stratifying the follow-up duration to check for reverse causality, and the dose-response relationship was stronger for women than for men. Current smoking (HR 1.34, 95% CI 1.02-1.77) and long-term exposure to PM2.5 concentrations ≥25.1 µg/m3 (HR 1.54, 95% CI 1.14-2.09) both significantly increased the risk of UC incidence. A significant dose-response relationship between PM2.5 and UC was also noted (p trend < 0.01). Limitations include the retrospective design and limited information on medical history. CONCLUSIONS: Lower renal function showed a dose-response relationship in elevating UC risk. Long-term exposure to PM2.5 is also a possible UC risk factor. PATIENT SUMMARY: People with kidney function that is lower than normal should monitor the health of their kidneys and other organs in the urinary system. Our study confirmed that as well as smoking, exposure to fine particulate matter in the air may be a risk factor for cancers of the urinary system.

Association between renal function and cardiovascular mortality: a retrospective cohort study of elderly from health check-up.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between cardiovascular mortality in elderly Asians and decline in renal function. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Community-based health examination database from Taipei city. PARTICIPANTS: At the beginning, the database included 315 045 health check-up visits of 97 803 elderly persons aged ≥65 years old from 2005 to 2012. After excluding missing values and outliers, there were 64 732 elderly persons with at least two visits retained for further analyses. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Kidney function indicators include estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and urine protein, and rapid decline in eGFR was defined as slope ≤ -5 mL/min/1.73 m2 per year. The endpoint outcome was defined as the cardiovascular deaths registered in the death registry encoded by the International Classification of Diseases. We applied a Cox proportional hazards model to analyse the association between renal function and cardiovascular mortality. RESULTS: In this study, we found 1264 elderly persons died from cardiovascular diseases, for whom the data included 4055 previous health check-up visits. We observed significant and independent associations of eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 (HR (95% CI) of 60>eGFR≥45 and eGFR<45 in males: 2.85 (1.33 to 6.09) and 3.98 (1.84 to 8.61); in females: 3.66 (1.32 to 10.15) and 6.77 (2.41 to 18.99)), positive proteinuria (HR (95% CI) of +/-, +,++ and +++, ++++ in males: 1.51 (1.29 to 1.78) and 2.31 (1.51 to 3.53); in females: 1.93 (1.54 to 2.42) and 4.23 (2.34 to 7.65)) and rapid decline in eGFR (HR (95% CI) in males: 3.24 (2.73 to 3.85); in females: 2.83 (2.20 to 3.64) with higher risk of cardiovascular mortality. The joint effect of increased concentration of urine protein and reduced eGFR was associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Renal function and rapid decline in renal function are independent risk factors for cardiovascular mortality in the elderly.

Ambient Cumulative PM2.5 Exposure and the Risk of Lung Cancer Incidence and Mortality: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Smoking, sex, air pollution, lifestyle, and diet may act independently or in concert with each other to contribute to the different outcomes of lung cancer (LC). This study aims to explore their associations with the carcinogenesis of LC, which will be useful for formulating further preventive strategies. This retrospective, longitudinal follow-up cohort study was carried out by connecting to the MJ Health Database, Taiwan Cancer Registry database, and Taiwan cause of death database from 2000 to 2015. The studied subjects were persons attending the health check-ups, distributed throughout the main island of Taiwan. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to investigate the risk factors associated with LC development and mortality after stratifying by smoking status, with a special emphasis on ambient two-year average PM2.5 exposure, using a satellite-based spatiotemporal model at a resolution of 1 km2, and on dietary habit including consumption of fruits and vegetables. After a median follow-up of 12.3 years, 736 people developed LC, and 401 people died of LC-related causes. For never smokers, the risk of developing LC (aHR: 1.32, 95%CI: 1.12-1.56) and dying from LC-related causes (aHR: 1.28, 95%CI: 1.01-1.63) rises significantly with every 10 µg/m3 increment of PM2.5 exposure, but not for ever smokers. Daily consumption of more than two servings of vegetables and fruits is associated with lowering LC risk in ever smokers (aHR: 0.68, 95%CI: 0.47-0.97), and preventing PM2.5 exposure is associated with lowering LC risk for never smokers.