Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-2023

Identifier

DOI: 10.34067/KID.0000000000000206; PMCID: PMC10615373

Abstract

KEY POINTS: This study evaluates educational and employment outcomes in patients with pediatric kidney disease and assesses predictors of educational attainment and employment in young adulthood. Despite high rates of high school graduation, nearly 20% of patients with CKD are unemployed or receiving disability at long-term follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Pediatric patients with CKD are at risk for neurocognitive deficits and academic underachievement. This population may be at risk for lower educational attainment and higher rates of unemployment; however, published data have focused on patients with advanced CKD and exist in isolation from assessment of neurocognition and kidney function.

METHODS: Data from the CKD in Children (CKiD) cohort study were used to characterize educational attainment and employment status in young adults with CKD. We used ratings of executive function as a predictor of future educational attainment and employment status. Linear regression models predicted the highest grade level completed. Logistic regression models predicted unemployment.

RESULTS: A total of 296 CKiD participants aged 18 years or older had available educational data. In total, 220 of 296 had employment data. By age 22 years, 97% had completed high school and 48% completed 2+ years of college. Among those reporting employment status, 58% were part-time or full-time employed, 22% were nonworking students, and 20% were unemployed and/or receiving disability. In adjusted models, lower kidney function (P = 0.02), worse executive function (P = 0.02), and poor performance on achievement testing (P = 0.004) predicted lower grade level completed relative to expectation for age.

CONCLUSIONS: CKiD study patients appear to have a better high school graduation rates (97%) than the adjusted national high school graduation rate (86%). Conversely, roughly 20% of participants were unemployed or receiving disability at study follow-up. Tailored interventions may benefit patients with CKD with lower kidney function and/or executive function deficits to optimize educational/employment outcomes in adulthood.

Journal Title

Kidney360

Volume

4

Issue

10

First Page

1389

Last Page

1396

MeSH Keywords

Humans; Child; Educational Status; Employment; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic

Keywords

Educational Status; Employment; Chronic Renal Insufficiency

Comments

Grants and funding

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal.

Publisher's Link: https://journals.lww.com/kidney360/fulltext/2023/10000/the_impact_of_pediatric_ckd_on_educational_and.10.aspx

Share

COinS