Scientific Presentations

LabTalks@­SocialDemography

Department Social Demography
Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), Rostock, Germany, June 24, 2025

1:00 PM: Talk with Mary Roberts - The Impact of Educational Attainment on Racial Differences in Renal Function using Race-Neutral eGFR

Abstract

Kidney disease is the eighth leading cause of death in the United States and is marked by substantial racial and socioeconomic disparities in its prevalence, progression, treatment, and mortality. Until 2021, the primary clinical indicator of kidney function—estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) based on serum creatinine—included a race-specific multiplier of 1.159 for Black individuals. This adjustment led to systematically higher eGFR estimates for Black individuals compared to non-Black individuals with equivalent serum creatinine levels.

This study leverages data from Wave V of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) to evaluate the impact of using race-neutral eGFR equations. We assess equations based solely on creatinine as well as those combining creatinine with cystatin-C, and examine how educational attainment moderates the relationship between race and eGFR.

Our findings reveal that applying a race-neutral eGFR equation significantly reduces the average eGFR among Black adults and increases the proportion classified as having reduced kidney function. Furthermore, at most levels of educational attainment, the removal of the race multiplier leads to substantially lower predicted eGFR for Black adults. Interestingly, within the Add Health sample, higher levels of education are associated with lower eGFR values, which may reflect differences in health behaviors such as physical activity or diet.

Although our relatively young sample exhibits low levels of chronic kidney disease, the results underscore the critical importance of using race-neutral equations when assessing kidney function in Black individuals. Additionally, they suggest that educational attainment may not mitigate racial disparities in kidney disease as effectively as previously assumed.

Room 400 and Zoom

Please register via email (office-myrskyla@demogr.mpg.de) for online participation. The Zoom link will be sent to you afterwards.

LabTalk, June, 24th from 1 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. (Rostock time)