Aetiology of chronic kidney disease in rural patients

Background: End-stage renal disease is a common health problem in India. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a burden on the health care system in India. Methods: During the period November 2012 to October 2013, we studied 160 patients with CKD seen at our teaching hospital. Results: Their mean age was 49.9 (range 21-87) years; there were 107 males. Most of the patients (n=119; 74.4%) were aged under 60 years. Overall, diabetes mellitus (56.5%) was the leading cause of CKD followed by chronic glomerulonephritis (20.5%) and hypertension (12.5%). Conclusions: Diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of CKD in our rural population. Males are more affected than females. Most of the younger patients directly presented with CKD with undetermined aetiological cause.