Overdiagnosis of Chronic Kidney Disease in Older Adults—An Inconvenient Truth

Since its publication in 2002, the National Kidney Foundation (NKF)'s clinical practice guideline on the evaluation, classification, and stratification of chronic kidney disease (CKD) dramatically altered how we think about kidney disease and how we care for people with this condition. The 2002 guideline was in many ways a breath of fresh air. It offered a formal case definition where none had existed previously, a common language to describe the presence and severity of CKD, and a powerful organizing structure to guide clinical care, scientific research, and patient advocacy. Nonetheless, these sweeping changes to the recommended conceptual and pragmatic approach to defining and managing CKD had some unanticipated and unintended adverse consequences. Meanwhile, Liu et al spotlight one of these.