The work aims to fill gaps in screening and support primary prevention of CKD, published in Kidney International in 2026.

The study highlights under-recognition in clinical practice, noting that many patients with eGFR above 60 yet below the 25th percentile did not receive urinary albumin testing, an early marker of kidney damage.

Another illustration uses the same example to show how a given eGFR can place someone at a low percentile, indicating higher future dialysis risk and the value of earlier preventive action.

A web-based calculator for healthcare professionals was created to assess how a patient’s eGFR compares with age-related norms, drawn from nearly seven million eGFR tests conducted between 2006 and 2021.

Currently, kidney damage is under-tested; among people with seemingly normal eGFR (>60) but below the 25th percentile, only about a quarter receive additional urinary albumin testing.

Findings show that departures from the median eGFR by age and sex correlate with outcomes; eGFR below the 25th percentile markedly increases the risk of kidney failure requiring dialysis or transplantation, while mortality shows a U-shaped relationship with percentiles.

Departures from the median eGFR for age and sex correlated with outcomes; lower-than-25th-percentile eGFR markedly raises kidney failure risk, and mortality follows a U-shaped pattern across percentiles.

Source and publication: Yang, Y., et al. (2026) Population-based eGFR distributions and associated health outcomes in Kidney International, DOI: 10.1016/j.kint.2025.11.009.

An illustrative example: a 55-year-old woman with eGFR of 80 mL/min/1.73 m² may be at the 10th percentile for her age and sex, signaling a threefold higher future dialysis risk and potential for earlier intervention.

Researchers developed population-based, age- and sex-specific eGFR distributions from over 1.1 million Stockholm adults to help identify individuals at risk by comparing a patient’s eGFR to population norms.

A Karolinska Institutet study published in Kidney International shows that subtle deviations in eGFR within the normal range can signal higher risk of developing chronic kidney disease, enabling earlier preventive actions.

The research is part of the SCREAM project and received funding from multiple Swedish health organizations; authors report no conflicts of interest.