Clinical and demographic characteristics of chronic kidney disease patients in a tertiary facility in Ghana

INTRODUCTION: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has emerged as a public health challenge in countries around the world. The cost of management of CKD is enormous and unaffordable to most patients in the developing world. There is a dearth of data on characteristics of Ghanaian CKD patients at presentation. METHODS: This was a prospective cross sectional study of CKD patients during their first visit to the renal clinic of a tertiary hospital adult renal service. Following informed consent, a questionnaire was used to gather demographic, anthropometric and clinical details of patients. Laboratory data of patients were also collected and analysed. RESULTS: The majority (64.5%) of 203 participants were male. Most were less than 60 years old and about one third were unemployed. Across all age groups stage 5 disease was the commonest presentation; however only 4.3% could afford to initiate haemodialysis. The mean number of dialysis sessions was 12.4 (range 6-18). Chronic glomerulonephritis (33%), hypertension (21.2%) and diabetes mellitus (22.2%) were found to be the leading causes of CKD. Common complications of CKD at presentation included anaemia (86.7%), pulmonary oedema (31%), high blood pressure (55%), and infection. CONCLUSION: Early detection of CKD and institution of measures to slow disease progression are to be encouraged. There is the need to make renal replacement therapy increasingly accessible and affordable to patients.