Estimated prevalence of childhood end-stage renal disease in the state of São Paulo

Summary Objective To estimate the prevalence of pediatric end-stage renal disease and evaluate demographics and renal disease characteristics in state of Sao Paulo over the year 2008. Methods Observational, descriptive, and cross-sectional study based on a population sample with subjects Results Data from 301 patients aged 9.0 ± 5.8, including 140 girls (46.5%), resulting in an estimate prevalence of 23.4 cases per million age-related population (pmarp). The age group most frequently found was 10 to 15 years (32.2%), and urinary tract malformation was the most usual known etiology (24.9%). Most children underwent kidney transplantation (62.1%) and among subjects on dialysis, hemodialysis was predominant (71.2%). The Sistema Unico de Saude – Unified National Health System – (SUS) provided the financial support for treatments. Conclusion The prevalence of 23.4 cases pmarp found by the authors is lower than that reported in Western world. We believe data were underestimated in the present study, as few dialysis units returned the completed questionnaire. This potential bias does not invalidate the exploratory character of results. Further mechanisms for retrospective and earlier data collecting on pediatric chronic renal disease (CRD) are needed so that the burden of this serious health condition can be appropriately sized up.