Early referral to specialist nephrology services for preventing the progression to end-stage kidney disease

Abstract

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows:Primary outcomesDoes early referral reduce all‐cause mortality and hospitalisation, and improve quality of life, measured by the visual analogue scale and SF‐36 (Caskey 2003). SF‐36 and KDQoL are a validated tools for kidney diseases (Gentile 2003).Secondary outcomesDoes early referral delay onset of RRT?Is there any objective evidence that early nephrological referral improves outcomes, for example, mortality, morbidity, psychosocial benefits, quality of life?Are cardiovascular risk factors better addressed with combined nephrologist and primary care physician care?