Chronic kidney disease in homeless persons in Mexico

Little is known about the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) among the homeless in Mexico. The role of substance abuse, alcoholism, and homelessness in CKD has not been properly evaluated. We screened 260 homeless individuals in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, for the presence of CKD and its risk factors, and compared their characteristics with those from a separate cohort of poor Jalisco residents and with a survey of the general Mexican population. CKD was more prevalent among the homeless than among the poor Jalisco population (22% vs. 15.8%, P=0.0001); 16.5% had stage 3, 4.3% stage 4, and 1.2% stage 5. All were unaware of having CKD. Only 5.8% knew they had diabetes, but 19% had fasting blood sugar >126 mg/dl; 3.5% knew they were hypertensive but 31% had systolic blood pressure ≥140 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mm Hg. Alcoholism was less common than in the poor Jalisco population (23.5% vs. 32.3%, P=0.002), but tobacco smoking (34.6% vs. 21.5%, P=0.0001) and substance abuse (18% vs. 1.1%, P=0.0001) were more prevalent among the homeless. Likewise, chronic viral infections such as HIV (4.5% vs. 0.3%, P=0.0001) and HCV (7.7% vs. 1.4%, P=0.0001) were also significantly higher among the homeless than in the general population. In conclusion, CKD and its risk factors are highly prevalent among the homeless individuals in Jalisco, Mexico. Lack of awareness of having diabetes and hypertension is highly common, as is substance abuse. Programs aiming to prevent CKD and its risk factors in Mexico should specifically target this high-risk population.