Prevalence and determinants of differences in cystatin C and creatinine-based estimated glomerular filtration rate in community-dwelling older adults: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Differences in cystatin C and creatinine-based estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) can lead to clinical uncertainty. Existing eGFR equations perform poorly in a subset of individuals. This study aims to describe the prevalence of differences between cystatin C-based (eGFR(cys)) and creatinine-based (eGFR(creat)) eGFR in older adults and to explore which subsets of individuals may be most affected by differing estimations. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, participants from a cohort of community-dwelling older adults were examined at a baseline visit in 2001-2004 as part of the larger “Good Aging in Skåne” study. Exposure variables were obtained from questionnaires, interviews, examinations, and medical records. Blood samples were taken during the baseline visit, cryopreserved, and analyzed at a later time for biomarkers. The CKD-EPI equations were used to estimate GFR. Initial descriptive analyses were performed on 2931 individuals. A total of 2532 participants were included in the final multiple linear regression. RESULTS: Nearly two-thirds of participants had eGFR differences exceeding 10%, with nearly 20 % of participants having eGFR differences exceeding 30%. Smoking, age, body mass index (BMI), C-reactive protein (CRP), glucocorticoid use, and mean eGFR were correlated with differences between eGFR(creat) and eGFR(cys). CONCLUSIONS: Differences between eGFR(creat) and eGFR(cys) are common and often of large magnitude in this community-dwelling population of older adults. The finding of multiple non-GFR determinants correlated to differences in GFR estimations can help direct future research to improve eGFR equations for subgroups prone to conflicting GFR estimations or to guide choice of biomarker for GFR estimation in these subgroups. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12882-017-0759-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.