ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1542329
This article is part of the Research TopicInfluence of Social Determinants on Wellbeing in Chronic Kidney Disease PatientsView all 9 articles
Global Burden of Chronic Kidney Disease and Risk Factors, 1990-2021: An Update from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
Provisionally accepted
- 1First Clinical Medical College, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
- 2Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Liaoning Province, China
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Introduction:The burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) varies across regions. This study provides comprehensive global, regional, and national estimates of total CKD and CKD due to four specific etiologies from 1990 to 2021. Methods: Data were extracted from the 2021 Global Burden of Disease study, categorized by sex, 20 age groups, 204 countries or territories, and 5 sociodemographic index (SDI) regions. Age-standardized incidence rates (ASIRs), age-standardized prevalence rates (ASPRs), age-standardized death rates (ASDRs), age-standardized disability-adjusted life year rates (ASDARs) and risk factor burdens for total CKD and four etiology-specific types were analyzed. Temporal trends were assessed using the estimated annual percentage change. Results: In 2021, CKD remained a significant global burden, with 673 million prevalent cases and 1.5 million deaths, primarily due to metabolic risk factors. The fastest growth in the ASPR and ASIR occurred in the middle-SDI regions, whereas the highest ASDR and ASDAR were observed in low-SDI regions. From 1990 to 2021, global ASIR increased for CKD caused by all four specific etiologies. The ASDR and ASDAR increased for CKD due to type 2 diabetes, glomerulonephritis, and hypertension, whereas there was a decline in CKD due to type 1 diabetes. Discussion: Between 1990 and 2021, CKD-related disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and deaths increased substantially, with type 2 diabetes and hypertension accounting for half of the etiology-specific DALYs in 2021. Effective health policies are urgently needed to address CKD risk factors and implement prevention strategies.
Keywords: Chronic Kidney Disease, Diabetes Mellitus, Epidemiology, Global Burden of Disease study, Glomerulonephritis, Hypertension, Risk factors
Received: 09 Dec 2024; Accepted: 11 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, He, Han, Zhu, Zhou, Tang and He. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Weiming He, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Liaoning Province, China
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