ABSTRACT • Background : Chronic kidney disease’s prevalence worldwide is estimated at an average of 10%. This study aims to assess the prevalence of different stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in a Lebanese outpatient setting. Materials and Methods: It is a crosssectional study that included all consecutive adult outpatients who underwent a dosage for serum creatinine in Saint Georges - Ajaltoun Hospital’s laboratory department during March 2016. Results : 315 patients were included: 55.6% were female and 44.4% male. Mean age was 53.4 ± 17.6 years. Median serum creatinine was 0.78 (0.63; 0.90) mg/dl. Based on eGFR, 8.5% of patients had chronic kidney disease stage 3 (eGFR 30-60 ml/min), 2.5% stage 4 (15-30 ml/min) and 1.6% stage 5 (< 15 ml/min). After including albuminuria in stages 1 and 2, CKD prevalence increased to 17.1%. Age was significantly correlated with eGFR with the eldest patients in stage 3 (p < 0.001).

Conclusion : Chronic kidney disease defined as eGFR < 60 ml/min was found to be present in 12.5% of Lebanese individuals tested in a rural outpatient setting. This finding should be confirmed by larger national and regional studies.

Keywords : chronic kidney disease; prevalence; outpatient setting; Eastern Mediterranean country; referral