Association of standardized estimated glomerular filtration rate with the prevalence of hypertension among adults in the United States

National Kidney Disease Education Program has initiated a serum creatinine standardization program. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) can be re-estimated from standardized serum creatinine measurements. How the standardized estimated GFR (eGFR) influences hypertension prevalence has not been evaluated. In this study, cross-sectional data from 21 205 participants aged 18 years in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2006 were analyzed. The differences between standardized and non-standardized eGFRs in the prevalence of hypertension and low eGFR were evaluated. Multiple logistic regression models were conducted to determine the association of standardized eGFR with hypertension prevalence. The prevalence of low eGFR estimated from standardized eGFR was higher than that from non-standardized eGFR (all P<0.01), except for the 2005-2006 survey. The prevalence of hypertension under standardized eGFR was not significantly different from that under non-standardized eGFR in both groups of participants with eGFR>60 and eGFR60 ml min(-1) per 1.73 m(2). Adjusted for age, education, gender, race/ethnicity, smoking, serum cholesterol and diabetes mellitus, the participants with standardized eGFR60 ml min(-1) per 1.73 m(2) had 56.1% more chance to be hypertensive patients than those with normal eGFR (P<0.0001). The difference in the relationship to hypertension prevalence between standardized and non-standardized eGFR was not found significant.