Assessment of Rena Function Among Diabetic Patients Managed at Pathology Laboratory from January to May 2023

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is the main cause of kidney diseases including end stage renal failure. Studies have found that diabetes affect more than 8% of the global population, and more than 40% of people with diabetes are predicted to develop chronic kidney disease including a significant number who will develop end stage renal kidney diseases (ESKD). It is important to monitor the status of renal function in diabetic patients as a way to provide appropriate health care to patients, which reduces incidences of progression to critical stages of renal diseases. The purpose of the study was to assess renal function status and to identify sociodemographic factors related to abnormal renal function in diabetic patients whose samples were processed at Pathology Laboratory, Harare, from January to May 2023. A retrospective study on the assessment of renal function among diabetic patients at Pathology Laboratory was conducted. A random sampling was done on diabetic patients whose samples were processed for glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) from January to May 2023.The study recruited 106 diabetic patients whose glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) were tested and recorded alongside their age and sex in the Laboratory information system at Pathology Laboratory. The prevalence of abnormal renal function among diabetic patients at Pathology Laboratory was 51%. Progression to critical abnormal renal function was found to increase with the age of patients as 7/59 cases with a GFR of less 60ml/min/1/73m^2 were less than 64 years old against 9/46 cases in patients older than 64 in that range of GFR. Male patients with critical abnormal renal function were many compared to females counterpart Regarding to sex, the study found that there were more males than females with critical abnormal renal function; there were 7/38 males against 9/68 females with a GFR of less than 60 ml/min/1.72m^2. Patients with uncontrolled diabetes mellittus presented a high prevalence of critical abnormal renal function compared with patients with controlled DM. There were 14/48 cases with a GFR of less than 60ml/min/1/73m^2 in patients with uncontrolled DM against 2/58 cases in that range of GFR in patients with controlled DM. The study showed that it is important to keep blood glucose level within the normal range as a way to prevent progression to severe renal diseases including end stage renal disease. Findings from this study show the importance of keeping the glucose in normal ranges in DM patients to reduce progression to severe renal diseases including end stage renal diseases, and this is of much importance in aging diabetic patients as the study showed that they are more prone severe diabetic kidney diseases than young ones.