Kidney Disease Care Lacking for Elderly

Many senior adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD) aren’t receiving the screening tests and basic preventive care routinely recommended for patients with this condition, reports a study in the October Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Led by Dr. Annamaria T. Kausz of Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, the researchers collected data on nearly 2,500 elderly Medicare recipients with CKD who eventually required dialysis to replace lost kidney function. Records were reviewed to evaluate the patients’ routine medical care in the two years before they started dialysis.

The results showed just half of the CKD patients underwent recommended tests for anemia, while only 15 percent had testing of parathyroid hormone levels. Patients with CKD were actually less likely than non-CKD patients to receive vaccinations for influenza and pneumococcal infection.