Prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the proportion of the population living with the disease in a defined geographic area. It can be expressed either as a percentage or as the number of cases in a population. Prevalence guides assessment of disease burden, health care needs, social services, and costs and has policy implications, such as screening recommendations.

Prevalence estimates are presented for the general US population from CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and geographic distribution of chronic kidney disease among Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years and older.

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