Vart P, et al. – This study investigated the differences in risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) among low or high SES African Americans and whites. Findings reported a higher risk of CKD in low SES (versus high SES) in whites than in African Americans.

Methods

• Researchers searched studies published through August 30, 2016 in Medline and EMBASE.
• From the seven studies (1,775,267 participants) that met inclusion criteria, association estimates were pooled by race in meta-analysis.
• They also pooled the ratio of association estimates and the corresponding 95% CIs for African Americans and whites, in meta-analysis.
• They used meta-regression analysis to explore whether race is related to the strength of SES-CKD association.
• The analysis was conducted in September 2016.

Results

• Findings demonstrated that the risk of CKD in low-SES people was 58% higher in African Americans (relative risk=1.58, 95% CI=1.33, 1.84) and 91% higher in whites (relative risk=1.91, 95% CI=1.47, 2.35) compared with their high-SES counterparts.
• Researchers observed that the relative risk of CKD in low SES (versus high SES) was lower in African Americans than in whites (relative risk ratio=0.71, 95% CI=0.65, 0.77).
• Meta-regression analyses also revealed that race is potentially associated with the strength of the link between low SES and CKD (p for difference between whites and African Americans=0.001).