ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: It is known that chronic kidney disease (CKD) is continuously increasing all over the world, but the available numbers of affected subjects are mostly collected from renal replacement therapy services and they correspond to individuals with end-stage renal disease. The aim of the present study was to diagnose CKD in its earliest stages in the general population based on detection of proteinuria. METHODS: In public prevention campaigns, from 2005 to 2010, 38 721 inhabitants were evaluated in the state of Sao Paulo (Brazil). Screening procedures included a dipstick test, blood pressure measurement and application of a medical questionnaire. RESULTS: In the whole population, urine samples of 37 771 individuals (mean age: 44.59 + 21.70, 55.74% females) were evaluated, 7.3% presented proteinuria (1+ or more) in the screening test and 85.5% of them had no previous knowledge of this urinary abnormality. Those individuals were referred for further clinical evaluation in order to confirm the detected alterations. Considering being diabetic and/or hypertensive as important risk factors for CKD, it was observed that they corresponded to 9.7 and 28.4% of the population screened for proteinuria, respectively. Newly detected cases of possible CKD, diabetes and hypertension corresponded to 6.2, 0.3 and 6.5%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This initiative provided information on proteinuria and possible cases of CKD based on a large sampling of the Brazilian population. Proteinuria was detected in 7.3% of these individuals, and such prevalence is similar to that previously described in developed countries.