Use of the BIOGROUP® French laboratories database to conduct CKD observational studies: a pilot EPI-CKD1 study.

Objectives: Medical biology is essential for diagnosing and monitoring cardio-reno-metabolic diseases. The EPI-CKD1 study utilizes data from Biogroup^® French laboratories to examine the burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the effect of heart failure, and diabetes in an outpatient setting in order to address gaps in national databases that lack biological data.

Methods: All adults (≥18 years) with at least one blood creatinine test between January 1st of 2021, and June 30th of 2022 were included. Key biomarkers measured included serum creatinine, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), hemoglobin A_1c, B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), NT-Pro BNP, and urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (uACR).

Results: Among a total of 4,061,208 adults with at least one blood creatinine test, 465,225 (11.5 %) had altered kidney function. Their mean age was 57.9 years (SD 18.8), with 56.7 % women. Diabetes was present in 8.3 %, and heart failure in 1.4 %. Altered kidney function standardized prevalence was estimated to 8.06 %, with an incidence of 5.10 %. Patients with end-stage CKD had an average of 7.9 eGFR measurements, compared to 2 for those with eGFR >60 mL/min/1.73 m². Older age, diabetes, and heart failure were associated with an increased risk of eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m².

Conclusions: The EPI-CKD1 study demonstrates the utility of Biogroup^® data for large-scale observational studies, offering precise, medically relevant insights on patients at cardio-renal risk. Future studies should focus on data enrichment and long-term follow-up to deepen understanding.