Describing the kidney health of ARDAC study participants using data linkage

Abstract

Objectives The Antecedents of Renal Disease in Aboriginal Children and Young Adults (“ARDAC”) study is the largest data linkage study on the kidney health of First Nations Peoples internationally. Using this data linkage this study aimed to describe the kidney health of ARDAC study participants (both Indigenous and non-Indigenous) aged under 25 years old. Methods Administrative data from hospital and community healthcare utilisation, pharmaceutical claims, and biomedical measurements were used to create a hybrid case definition for CKD. Using this definition, descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis were used to describe sociodemographic characteristics of ARDAC participants with CKD. A ‘strengths-based’ regression analysis was also undertaken to challenge past ways of reporting kidney health outcomes and improve equity among young Aboriginal peoples. Results From the 3758 participants enrolled at baseline, approximately 1.5% of young people developed CKD between 2002 to 2019 (follow-up: 2-4 years). The current median age of the cohort is 26.7 years. The majority of those with CKD were identified through biomedical and pharmaceutical data combined, followed by community healthcare claims, and hospitalizations. Findings from the regression analysis will provide insight into the socioeconomic factors that lead to CKD in young people and will be the focus of this presentation. Conclusions/Implications Our findings report for the first time the socioeconomic drivers of kidney health equity for young Aboriginal peoples. Understanding these drivers provides opportunities to work in partnership with communities to develop culturally safe health promotion.