Slow walk pace, weight gain up CKD risk in adults with obesity

Weight gain and a slow walking pace both influence the risk of chronic kidney disease among adults with obesity who do not have diabetes at baseline, results of a study have shown.

Adults with obesity without baseline CKD or diabetes enrolled in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) were included in this prospective, longitudinal cohort study. The investigators adjusted the linear mixed-effects and multistate models for demographics, time-varying covariates including blood pressure, and comorbidities.

These models were then used to explore the relationship of weight change and slow walking pace (defined as <2 miles per hour) with the rate of annual estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline and incident CKD (defined as eGFR_Cr-Cys <60 mL/min/1.73 m²). The models were also tested for interaction by baseline hypertension status.

A total of 1,208 MESA participants (median body mass index 33.0 kg/m²) were included in this study, of whom 15 percent developed CKD.

Slow walking pace showed a significant association with eGFR decline (−0.27 mL/min/1.73 m²/year, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], −0.42 to −0.12) and CKD risk (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.48, 95 percent CI, 1.08‒2.01). Similarly, weight gain significantly correlated with CKD risk (aHR, 1.34 per 5-kg weight gain from baseline, 95 percent CI, 1.02‒1.78).

“There was no significant interaction by baseline hypertension status,” according to the investigators.