Background: Glomerular filtration rate (GFR)-estimating equations based on serum creatinine level may not be accurate across racial groups because of differences among races in creatinine generation. The Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) Study equation was developed in whites and African Americans, but performance was not evaluated in Japanese.
Study design: Diagnostic test accuracy. Cross-sectional retrospective study of 3 patient groups. Equation development in 2 groups (n = 247 in 2002 to 2004; n = 214 in 2003 to 2004 with measured GFR <90 mL/min/1.73 m(2)); external validation in a separate group (n = 153 from 1988 to 1994).
Setting & participants: Hospitalized Japanese patients with chronic kidney disease in 3 medical centers.
Reference test: Measured GFR (mGFR) computed from renal clearance of inulin.
Index test: Estimated GFR (eGFR) using the isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS)-traceable 4-variable MDRD Study equation, a modified IDMS MDRD Study equation with a Japanese Society of Nephrology-Chronic Kidney Disease Initiatives (JSN-CKDI) coefficient derived in the development data set, and a new equation derived by refitting coefficients in the MDRD Study equation in the development data set.
Measurements: Current creatinine assays were calibrated to standardized creatinine. Performance of equations was assessed as bias, accuracy, root-mean-squared error, and correlation coefficient of eGFR versus mGFR.
Results: In the development data set, eGFR using the IDMS MDRD Study equation overestimated mGFR throughout the entire range. In the validation data set, the IDMS MDRD Study equation with the JSN-CKDI coefficient 0.741 and the new equation (JSN-CKDI) performed with significantly less bias and greater accuracy than the IDMS MDRD Study equation, but were similar to each other in accuracy and bias in patients with eGFR less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2). In the combined development and validation data sets, the JSN-CKDI coefficient was 0.763 (95% confidence interval, 0.743 to 0.783).
Limitations: Possible drift in creatinine assays over time, possible lower creatinine generation in hospitalized patients, exclusion of patients with higher GFR from the development data set.
Conclusion: GFR estimates using the IDMS MDRD Study equation with the JSN-CKDI coefficient or the new JSN-CKDI equation are more accurate than the IDMS MDRD Study equation in hospitalized Japanese patients with eGFR less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2). More studies are necessary to verify the accuracy of the JSN-CKDI coefficient and JSN-CKDI equation in other settings in Japan and elsewhere in Asia.