# Prediction of Chronic Kidney Disease by Simulation Modeling to Improve the Health of Minority Populations

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2020 · $389,501

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Significant health disparities exist in chronic kidney disease (CKD), CKD progression, and end stage renal
disease (ESRD) in ethnically diverse populations. African Americans (AAs) have ~25% higher prevalence of
CKD, 3-fold higher rate of ESRD, and the highest risk of mortality among those with estimated glomerular
filtration rate (eGFR) 45-95mL/min/1.73m2. The most significant traditional risk factors for CKD and ESRD are
diabetes and hypertension accounting for >60% CKD and >70% of new ESRD cases, respectively. Non-
traditional risk factors for CKD such as environmental, cultural-behavioral factors, geographic, education,
insurance coverage, socioeconomic status and unequal access to optimal healthcare, disproportionately affect
CKD health in ethnic minorities. The unique combination of these factors on CKD progression in the real world
remains poorly defined. Identification of modifiable risk factors that may reduce CKD disparities would be
invaluable to improve quality of life, life expectancy, and decrease economic burden. Simulation models have
been successfully applied in other clinical domains, but are limited in CKD development and CKD progression,
due to small datasets and the absence of modeling techniques using longitudinal observational health data.
Further, no models have been tested in a real-world minority population to uncover the potential for interventional
studies that would reduce CKD disparities on a larger scale. To our knowledge, we have created the largest,
comprehensive database from electronic health records of >10 million individuals seen between 2006-2016 from
a 2-year partnership between UCLA (1.8 million) and Providence St. Joseph Health (PSJH; 9.2 million) systems.
From the UCLA Registry population, we identified significant differences in eGFR trajectory decline between AAs
and non-AAs according to baseline eGFR, indicating a pattern shift from a higher to a lower, steeper eGFR
trajectory suggesting there may be critical windows for interventions to reduce CKD disparities in AAs.
Race/ethnicity differences from linear mixed models of all ethnic cohorts persisted even after controlling for
demographic and clinical variables known to influence eGFR trajectories. We hypothesize that the use of
ethnically diverse populations in the joint UCLA PSJH CKD/At-risk CKD Registry can identify a novel combination
of CKD risk factors; and improve the performance of existing simulation models to predict CKD progression. The
specific aims are to: 1) develop and test a machine learning-based simulation model for CKD and eGFR
trajectories using the UCLA PSJH CKD/At-risk CKD Registry; and conduct internal validation of the models and
comparisons with existing CKD risk models, 2) stratify and test simulation models based on different racial/ethnic
groups, including external validation based on cross-institution comparisons, and 3) conduct focus groups with
UCLA primary care physicians, who manage racial/ethni...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9848452
- **Project number:** 1R01MD014712-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** ALEX BUI
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $389,501
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-01-23 → 2023-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9848452

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9848452, Prediction of Chronic Kidney Disease by Simulation Modeling to Improve the Health of Minority Populations (1R01MD014712-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9848452. Licensed CC0.

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