Ester Oh, PhD: Sex Differences in Cardiovascular Disease Risk for Chronic Kidney Disease Patients

While it is well-established that females have lower risks of cardiovascular disease, does that hold true for female patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD)?

In new research presented during the 2022 American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Annual Meeting in Orlando, a team led by Ester S. Oh, PhD, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, examined sex differences for cardiovascular disease risk for patients with chronic kidney disease.

“There are not many studies that examine the sex differences in cardiovascular risk in kidney disease and it has been known in the general population that females have a lower cardiovascular risk,” Oh said. “We don’t know if that translates to patients with chronic kidney disease.”

The results show females do have a lower cardiovascular disease in the non-chronic kidney disease cohort, but there was no sex differences in terms of cardiovascular disease risk among patients with chronic kidney disease.

There were no observed differences in a group in the odds ratio of a higher ASCVD score between males with chronic kidney disease aged 18-75 years and non-CKD males of the same age.

The results also show females aged 18-75 years with CKD had a higher odds of intermediate-high vs low-borderline ASCVD risk score compared to females aged at least 55 years without CKD.