Renal functional status of elderly Taiwanese: Results from the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (1999-2000)

Objectives: This study aims to assess the renal functional status of elderly Taiwanese.

Methods: Data were from the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (1999-2000) (NAHSIT-II), a national survey conducted to gain an understanding of health status of non-institutionalized elderly (> 65 y) Taiwanese. The survey employed a multi-stage, stratified, and clustered probability sampling scheme. In this report, impaired renal functional status is defined as glomerular filtration rate (GFR) < 60 ml/min/1.73m2 based on Cockroft-Gault equation.

Results: Of the 2984 participants, 1568 completed both the questionnaire and clinical examination of the survey, and the results showed that 2.0, 36.4, 56.1, 5.1, and 0.5% of elderly had GFR > 90, 89-60, 59-30, 29-15, and < 15, respectively. Nearly 62% of elderly had GFR < 60. Greater proportions of women than men had GFR < 60. GFR decreased with age. Only 15% of elderly were ever diagnosed of impaired renal function and only 0.2% of elderly were under medications for improving their renal function.

Conclusion: Based on calculated GFR, the proportion of impaired renal function in elderly Taiwanese is high, approximately 62%, and the diagnosed rate of the abnormality is low, only 15%. (The authors acknowledge the Office of Nutrition Survey of Academia Sinica for providing the survey data).