Diabetic nephropathy as the cause of end-stage kidney disease reported on the medical evidence form CMS2728 at a single center

Background: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) incidence due to Type 2 diabetic nephropathy (DN) is 35–50%, according to the United States Renal Data System. Methods: A single-center, retrospective cohort study to determine incidence and diagnostic accuracy for Type 2 DN as the primary cause of ESRD (Code 250.40) on the Center for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) Medical Evidence Report form (CMS2728) submitted at renal replacement therapy initiation. All patients ≥18 years of age with a CMS2728 submitted between 1 March 2006 and 31 March 2015 at a single academic military medical center (ESRD Network 5) were included. Medical records of those with a Code 250.40 diagnosis were reviewed to determine whether they met the Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI) 2007 criteria for DN. Results: ESRD incidence secondary to Type 2 DN was 18.7% (56/299 individual CMS2728 submissions over 9.09 years). In all, 12/56 (21.4%) did not meet KDOQI criteria for Type 2 DN. Although all had diabetes, those not meeting criteria had shorter disease duration (P = 0.007), were more likely to have active urine sediment (P = 0.006), and were less likely to have macroalbuminuria (P = 0.037) or retinopathy (P = 0.002) prior to ESRD. On exact logistic regression, retinopathy was significantly associated with KDOQI-predicted DN [odds ratio = 19.16 (confidence interval 2.76–223.7), P = 0.0009]. Conclusions: In this single-center cohort, 21.4% identified as having Type 2 DN as the primary cause of ESRD were incorrectly assigned per KDOQI 2007 clinical criteria. If replicated in larger populations, this could have substantial implications regarding the epidemiology of ESRD in the USA.