UW medical students initiate one of the first of its kind transition to the calculation of estimated glomerular filtration rate that is not adjusted by race.

A serum creatinine test measures the level of creatinine in your blood and provides an estimate of how well your kidneys filter (glomerular filtration rate).

When measuring kidney function, virtually every laboratory in the United States, including UW Medicine, automatically calculates an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) every time serum creatinine is measured. This test has traditionally used the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation to calculate eGFR to determine levels of creatinine in each sample.

The eGFR results are then reported with race factored as a precision variable. The usual approach is to report two values – one for blacks and another for non-blacks.

In 2018, the conversation was initiated by UW School of Medicine medical students questioning the strength of evidence underlying the reporting of eGFR by race.

Read the entire story at UW Medicine. Naomi Nkinsi, a Department of Global Health MPH student, is included.