By Mar. 2022, most U.S. state clinical laboratories were aware of revised equations for estimating glomerular filtration rates (eGFRs) as adopted in Sept. 2021 by the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI), a study shows. About one-third of labs had adopted the equations, and nearly half of the others planned to do so during 2022.
The new equations eliminated race-adjustment factors, including one based on creatinine (2021 CKD-EPI creatinine) and one based on creatinine and cystatin C (2021 CKD-EPI creatinine–cystatin C), the authors report. In Mar. 2022, the College of American Pathologists surveyed clinical laboratory staff or directors across the U.S., 3 of its territories, and 51 other countries. Results for the U.S. states showed the following for 4,593 surveys: “Of US respondents, 76.9% reported being aware of the 2021 CKD-EPI equations and 30.3% reported that they already adopted the 2021 CKD-EPI creatinine equation. Of the responding laboratories that had not yet adopted the 2021 CKD-EPI creatinine equation, 21.6% planned to adopt the equation before July 1, 2022, 10.7% between July 1 and December 31, 2022, 2.2% in 2023 or later, and 58.4% were unsure regarding future plans.
“Of US respondents, 3.4% reported that they already adopted the 2021 CKD-EPI creatinine–cystatin C equation, 8.0% reported that they planned to adopt it, 32.0% reported that they did not plan to adopt it, and 56.7% were unsure. The 3 most common barriers to adoption of the 2021 CKD-EPI creatinine–cystatin C equation were limited cystatin C testing options, cost of testing, and staffing resources.”