Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33558333›Full record

ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2021

Comorbidity in chronic kidney disease: a large cross-sectional study of prevalence in Scottish primary care.

Clare MacRae, Stewart W Mercer, Bruce Guthrie, David Henderson

Open access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 74 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
74citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
5.8field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

74 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 126 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  8. Article
  9. Article
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  11. Review
  12. Atmospheric stressors and kidney diseases.Nature reviews. Nephrology · 2026
    Review
  13. Article
  14. The kidney failure risk equation in people with CKD and multimorbidity: the effect of competing mortality risks.Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation : official publication of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association - European Renal Association · 2026
    Observational
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Risk of Hospital Readmission among People with CKD: A Population-Based Cohort Study.Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology : CJASN · 2026
    Article
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  19. Article
  20. Dialysis status and its association with complications, discharge outcomes, and costs after multilevel lumbar fusion: a national analysis.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026
    Article

14 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Clare MacRaeUsher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh.
Stewart W MercerUsher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh.
Bruce GuthrieCollege of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh.
David HendersonUsher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh.
University of Edinburgh · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundChronic kidney disease (CKD) is commonly comorbid with hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, the extent of comorbidity in CKD across a range of concordant (shared pathophysiology and/or treatment) conditions and discordant (unrelated pathophysiology and/or different or contradictory treatment) conditions is not well documented.

aimTo ascertain the prevalence of comorbidity, across 39 physical and mental health comorbidities, in adults with CKD in a large, nationally representative primary care population. DESIGN AND

settingCross-sectional analysis of a primary care dataset representing 1 274 374 adults in Scotland.

methodThis study was a secondary analysis of general practice electronic medical record data using binary logistic regression models adjusted for age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Data of adults aged ≥25 years and 40 long-term conditions were used.

resultsA total of 98.2% of adults with CKD had at least one comorbidity, versus 51.8% in controls. After adjustment for age, sex, and deprivation, people with CKD were more likely to have 1 (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 6.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 6.0 to 7.1), 2-3 (aOR 15.2, 95% CI = 14.0 to 16.5), 4-6 (odds ratio [OR] 26.6, 95% CI = 24.4 to 28.9), and ≥7 other conditions (OR 41.9, 95% CI = 38.3 to 45.8). Furthermore, all concordant (seven out of seven), the majority of discordant physical health conditions (17 out of 24), and mental health conditions (six out of eight) had statistically significant positive associations with CKD after adjustment.

conclusionChronic kidney disease is associated with extreme comorbidity across a wide range of mental and physical conditions. Routine care for people with CKD should include recognition and management of comorbidities, and clinical guidelines should support clinicians to do this.

Indexed as

Renal Insufficiency, ChronicAdultComorbidityCross-Sectional StudiesHumansPrevalencePrimary Health CareRisk FactorsScotlandchronic kidney diseasecomorbidityepidemiologygeneral practicerenal insufficiency, chronic

Identifiers

PMID33558333
PMCPMC7888754
OpenAlexW3111640726

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.