Project Overview

When detected early, it’s possible to slow or prevent kidney disease from progressing. However, oftentimes kidney disease isn’t caught until it is in the advanced stages and therapeutic options are limited.

To address this issue, a research team at Can-SOLVE CKD created the Kidney Failure Risk Equation (KFRE), a tool that aims to identify people at risk of kidney disease progression, allowing for earlier intervention with treatment. The tool is easy to use, and initial evaluation suggests it is effective at identifying patients at risk of disease progression in the clinical setting.

As part of a follow up study called SAFE-CKD, the research team is now launching a stepped-wedge cluster randomized trial that will scale the use of the KFRE into a new provincial kidney disease surveillance system. The tool will be used to identify all Individuals in Manitoba who are at high-risk of progressing to kidney failure who had appropriate laboratory testing for CKD completed, and who subsequently met nephrology referral criteria, but were never referred to a nephrologist. Individuals will then receive a letter describing their results with an invitation for an in-person consult with a nephrologist (kidney doctor). This will ensure that all individuals in the province with high-risk CKD receive the intensity of care that they need. The program will support the integration of risk-based care at a population-level, in turn providing opportunities that will prompt changes in further investigation, treatment, referral for education, and inform a personalized medicine approach for patient-provider discussions regarding prognosis.

SAFE-CKD: Designing and implementing a safety net surveillance program for high risk CKD

Project lead(s):

Dr. Navdeep Tangri

Research theme(s):

Kidney Failure

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