Trends in the prevalence of chronic kidney disease in Korean adults: the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1998 to 2009

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with a poor quality of life and cardiovascular events and is a great threat to public health. We investigated the trends of CKD prevalence over 12 years in Korean adults at least 20 years old using sampling weight methods based on the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) I (1998), II (2001), III (2005) and IV (200709). Of the 135 954 subjects participating in KNHANES IIV, 33 276 (14 307 men, 18 969 women) were included in the present study. The percentage of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) in KNHANES IIV was 1.0, 5.4, 3.1 and 2.6 in men and 3.4, 9.7, 10.2 and 4.6 in women, respectively. The percentage of proteinuria 1 measured by a dipstick method across KNHANES phases gradually declined in men (3.1, 3.0, 2.8 and 2.2 in KNHANES IIV, respectively), while those in women rebounded in KNHANES IV after reduction through KNHANES III (3.3, 2.3, 1.4 and 1.9, respectively). The prevalence of CKD (GFR 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) or proteinuria 1) in KNHANES IIV was 3.9, 7.9, 5.4 and 4.5 in men and 6.4, 11.3, 12.0 and 6.3 in women, respectively. After stratification by age (2039 years, 4059 years and 60 years), the prevalence trends were similar to those before the stratification by sexes. The prevalence of CKD in Korean adults has decreased since 2001 in men and since 2005 in women.