RICORS2040 : The need for collaborative research in chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a silent and poorly known killer. The current concept of CKD is relatively young and uptake by the public, physicians and health authorities is not widespread. Physicians still confuse CKD with chronic kidney insufficiency or failure. For the wider public and health authorities, CKD evokes kidney replacement therapy (KRT). In Spain, the prevalence of KRT is 0.13%. Thus health authorities may consider CKD a non-issue: very few persons eventually need KRT and, for those in whom kidneys fail, the problem is 'solved' by dialysis or kidney transplantation. However, KRT is the tip of the iceberg in the burden of CKD. The main burden of CKD is accelerated ageing and premature death. The cut-off points for kidney function and kidney damage indexes that define CKD also mark an increased risk for all-cause premature death. CKD is the most prevalent risk factor for lethal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the factor that most increases the risk of death in COVID-19, after old age. Men and women undergoing KRT still have an annual mortality that is 10- to 100-fold higher than similar-age peers, and life expectancy is shortened by ~40 years for young persons on dialysis and by 15 years for young persons with a functioning kidney graft. CKD is expected to become the fifth greatest global cause of death by 2040 and the second greatest cause of death in Spain before the end of the century, a time when one in four Spaniards will have CKD. However, by 2022, CKD will become the only top-15 global predicted cause of death that is not supported by a dedicated well-funded Centres for Biomedical Research (CIBER) network structure in Spain. Realizing the underestimation of the CKD burden of disease by health authorities, the Decade of the Kidney initiative for 2020-2030 was launched by the American Association of Kidney Patients and the European Kidney Health Alliance. Leading Spanish kidney researchers grouped in the kidney collaborative research network Red de Investigación Renal have now applied for the Redes de Investigación Cooperativa Orientadas a Resultados en Salud (RICORS) call for collaborative research in Spain with the support of the Spanish Society of Nephrology, Federación Nacional de Asociaciones para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades del Riñón and ONT: RICORS2040 aims to prevent the dire predictions for the global 2040 burden of CKD from becoming true

Impacto del nivel socioeconómico en el conocimiento del ictus de la población general: un gradiente de desigualdad social

Resumen: Objetivos: El nivel socioeconómico es un factor que condiciona el comportamiento individual ante la salud y las condiciones de salud de la población. Se evalúa la asociación entre factores socio-demográficos y el conocimiento del ictus en la población general. Método: Estudio transversal. Los sujetos fueron seleccionados por un sistema de asignación al azar doble. Se administró un cuestionario estructurado con preguntas abiertas y cerradas mediante entrevistas cara a cara. El «conocimiento adecuado» fue definido previamente. Se utilizaron el test de Mantel-Haenszel y la regresión logística con modelos ajustados para evaluar la asociación entre el conocimiento del ictus y las variables estudiadas. Resultados: Entrevistas, 2.411; 59,9% mujeres; edad media ± desviación estándar, 49,0 ± 17,3 años. El 74% residente en área urbana. Un 24,7% tenía estudios universitarios, el 15,2% un nivel de escolarización bajo. Solo el 2,1% declaraba ganar mas de 40.000 euros/año y un 29,9% menos de 10.000. Casi el 74% declaró tener un excelente o buen nivel de salud. El desempleo fue del 17,0%. La prevalencia de «conocimiento adecuado» fue del 39,7%(IC del 95%, 37,7%-41,6%). El análisis de tendencias mostró una asociación entre conocimiento y nivel económico (z = 10,14; p < 0,0001); nivel de estudios (z = 15,95; p < 0,0001), estado de salud (z = 7,92; p < 0,0001) y situación laboral (z = 8,98; p < 0,0001). Conclusiones: El nivel de estudios y renta, disponer de trabajo y gozar de salud son factores independientes de un «conocimiento adecuado» del ictus. Las campañas educativas deberían realizarse con un lenguaje sencillo y dirigirse con especial interés a las clases sociales mas desfavorecidas. Abstract: Objectives: Socioeconomic status is a factor that influences health-related behaviour in individuals as well as health conditions in entire populations. The objective of the present study was to analyse the sociodemographic factors that may influence knowledge of stroke. Method: Cross-sectional study. A representative sample was selected by double randomisation. Face-to-face interviews were carried out by previously trained medical students using a structured questionnaire with open- and closed-ended questions. Adequate knowledge was previously defined. The Mantel-Haenszel test and adjusted logistic regression analysis were used to assess the association between knowledge of stroke and the study variables. Results: 2411 subjects were interviewed (59.9% women; mean age 49.0 [SD 17.3] years) Seventy-three per cent were residents of urban areas, 24.7% had a university education, and 15.2% had a low level of schooling. Only 2.1% reported earning more than 40 000 euros/year, with 29.9% earning less than 10 000. Nearly 74% reported having an excellent or good state of health. The unemployment rate was 17.0%. Prevalence of “adequate knowledge” was 39.7% (95% CI: 37.7%-41.6%). Trend analysis showed an association between knowledge of stroke and income (z = 10.14, P < 0.0001); educational level (z = 15.95, P < 0.0001); state of health (z = 7.92, P < 0.0001); and employment status (z = 8.98, P < 0.0001). Conclusions: Educational level, income, employment status, and state of health are independent factors for adequate knowledge of stroke. Public awareness campaigns should present material using simple language and efforts should be directed toward the most disadvantaged social strata in particular. Palabras clave: Ictus, Educación, Factores sociales, Promoción de la salud, Metodología, Conocimiento, Keywords: Stroke, Education, Social factors, Health promotion, Methods, Knowledg

Dietary α-linolenic acid, marine ω-3 fatty acids, and mortality in a population with high fish consumption: Findings from the PREvención con DIeta MEDiterránea (PREDIMED) Study

12 Páginas.-- 6 Tablas.-- 1 FiguraBackground-Epidemiological evidence suggests a cardioprotective role of α-linolenic acid (ALA), a plant-derived ω-3 fatty acid. It is unclear whether ALA is beneficial in a background of high marine ω-3 fatty acids (long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids) intake. In persons at high cardiovascular risk from Spain, a country in which fish consumption is customarily high, we investigated whether meeting the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids recommendation for dietary ALA (0.7% of total energy) at baseline was related to all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality. We also examined the effect of meeting the society's recommendation for long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (≥500 mg/day). Methods and Results-We longitudinally evaluated 7202 participants in the PREvención con DIeta MEDiterránea (PREDIMED) trial. Multivariable-adjusted Cox regressionmodels were fitted to estimate hazard ratios. ALA intake correlated towalnut consumption (r=0.94). During a 5.9-y follow-up, 431 deaths occurred (104 cardiovascular disease, 55 coronary heart disease, 32 sudden cardiac death, 25 stroke). The hazard ratios formeeting ALArecommendation (n=1615, 22.4%) were 0.72 (95% CI 0.56-0.92) for all-causemortality and 0.95 (95% CI 0.58-1.57) for fatal cardiovascular disease. The hazard ratios formeeting the recommendation for long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n=5452, 75.7%) were 0.84 (95% CI 0.67-1.05) for all-causemortality, 0.61 (95% CI 0.39-0.96) for fatal cardiovascular disease, 0.54 (95% CI 0.29-0.99) for fatal coronary heart disease, and 0.49 (95% CI 0.22-1.01) for sudden cardiac death. The highest reduction in all-cause mortality occurred in participants meeting both recommendations (hazard ratio 0.63 [95% CI 0.45-0.87]). Conclusions-In participants without prior cardiovascular disease and high fish consumption, dietary ALA, supplied mainly by walnuts and olive oil, relates inversely to all-cause mortality, whereas protection from cardiac mortality is limited to fish-derived long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.This study was funded in part by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) (Spanish Ministry of Economy) through grants RTIC G03/140, RTIC RD 06/0045, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares CNIC 06/2007, ISCIII FIS PS09/01292, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) AGL2010‐22319‐C03‐02 and AGL2009‐13906‐C02‐02, and an unrestricted grant from the California Walnut Commission. Sala‐Vila holds a Miguel Servet I fellowship from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the ISCIII