For collection of the information about CKD and AKI epidemiology the experienced researcher (ER) developed a custom bibliographic system. Several rounds of systematic review of the literature have been performed to collect available data on epidemiology of kidney disease, and several versions of the search queries to most used bibliographic databases were constructed. The latter allows to compare search strategies for CKD and AKI, and to reveal the best ones for each of these conditions. This methodology could be useful for future systematic reviews both on epidemiology of kidney disease, and as a general research approach for any disease.
The collected data were shared with the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluations (IHME, University of Washington, USA) to be used in the innovative epidemiological modelling of kidney disease morbidity and mortality in the framework of the Global Burden of Disease Study. For the collaboration with a wide range of leading experts in the field, data modelling, and preparation of manuscripts, the ER performed a short-term professorship visit to IHME, and interacted with IHMEs key persons during the project. The applied inter-disciplinary approach allows to consider kidney disease burden in a complex global environment, and to estimate CKD burden on the country, regional, and global levels.
The estimates of kidney disease morbidity and mortality, which were produced as a part of the fellowship activities, provide crucial information for scientific community, health care authorities, and a wide range of key stakeholders in the field of public health. Results presented in the scientific publications with co-authorship by both ER and Supervisor demonstrated that the global CKD prevalence is as high as 700 million individuals, of them almost 53 million live in European Union. The analysis performed in the collaboration with IHME has shown that globally in 2017 there were 1.23 million deaths directly related to CKD. Moreover, the developed models were able to quantitatively estimate that kidney impairment was attributed to 1.36 million deaths from myocardial infarction, stroke, and peripheral arterial disease (of which 140 thousand deaths were occurred in European Union). It means that 7.6% of all cardiovascular deaths could be attributed to kidney dysfunction, and the prevention and treatment of kidney disease should be a priority in combating cardiovascular morbidity and mortality a strong message currently under-recognized by health authorities.
The results of the project become the basis of several papers published in high-impact scientific journals. Special attention was dedicated to the analysis of gender and sex differences of the CKD prevalence, and explanation of reasons for observed disparities. The published papers obtained a great interest from scientific community, mass media, social media, and general public. Some of these articles are entered in the top-1% or top-5% of papers ever published, according to Web of Science and Altmetrics.
Several activities have been performed for the communication and dissemination, including participation in congresses on epidemiology and kidney disease, giving lectures, publications in social networks, web-site and newsletter of the hosting institute. The support with the fellowship also provide a plenty of opportunities of the career development.
