Quality of life in older adults with chronic kidney disease and transient changes in renal function: Findings from the Oxford Renal cohort.

QoL of participants with existing CKD diagnoses was not significantly different from those with screen-detected CKD or transient eGFR reduction and was similar to UK mean scores for the same age, suggesting that patient burden of early CKD is minor. Moreover, CKD-related comorbidities contribute more significantly to disease burden in earlier stages of CKD than renal function per se. Larger prospective studies are required to define the relationship between QoL and CKD progression more precisely. These data also confirm the essentially asymptomatic nature of CKD, implying that routine screening or case finding are required to diagnose it.