Chronic kidney disease and life expectancy

Incorporating validated life expectancy estimates (updated to include both GFR and albuminuria category) together with hard data concerning rate of change of kidney function and presence or absence of kidney-related complications may significantly improve referral decision making in the future.Life expectancy is commonly used as an indicator of health and reflects disease burden in the population. The life expectancy for patients with lower levels of kidney function has not been reported. The abridged life table method was applied to calculate the life expectancies of men and women from age 30 to 85 years, by levels of kidney function as defined by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR): epsilon 60, 4559, 3044 and 1529 mL/min/1.73 m(2). Men and women aged 40 years had a life expectancy of 30.5 and 34.6 years at eGFR epsilon 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2), 24.5 and 28.7 years at eGFR 4559 mL/min/1.73 m(2), 14.5 and 16.5 years at eGFR 3044 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and 10.4 and 9.1 years at eGFR 1529 mL/min/1.73 m(2), respectively. Life expectancy was longer for women compared with men at all ages and eGFR categories, other than for eGFR 1529 mL/min/1.73 m(2) where there was no difference in life expectancy by gender. A lower level of kidney function is associated with a reduction in life expectancy for both men and women.