Why should there be a staging system for CKD?
Staging patients with CKD according to cause, eGFR, and albuminuria enhances risk stratification for the major complications of CKD.
Increasing albuminuria is associated with a higher risk of adverse events at every level of eGFR.
These complications include kidney outcomes and mortality. Risk stratification is used to inform appropriate treatments, determine the intensity of monitoring, and facilitate patient education.
In addition, the definition and staging of CKD has been useful in providing a common terminology for CKD to facilitate the study of the epidemiology, natural history, and prognosis of CKD.