Among HIV-infected kidney disease patients, African Americans are more likely to develop kidney failure and die prematurely

Among African Americans, HIV infection is increasingly recognized as an important risk factor for developing chronic kidney disease. African American men and women are more likely to die from the complications of HIV infection compared with Caucasian men and women. To see if racial disparities also exist in the rates of kidney disease progression and death among HIV-infected individuals, researchers studied the health of 2468 HIV-infected patients cared for at the Comprehensive Care Center in Nashville from 1998 through 2005. Rates of kidney function decline were similar in African American and non-African American HIV-infected individuals, but African Americans were more likely to develop kidney failure or end-stage renal disease and had a higher risk of dying during the study period.