Effect of community characteristics on familial clustering of end-stage renal disease.

BACKGROUND Lower socioeconomic status is generally associated with an increased risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The relationship between community characteristics reflecting socioeconomic status and familial aggregation of common forms of ESRD has not been studied. METHODS Demographic data and family history of ESRD were collected from 23,880 incident dialysis patients in ESRD Network 6 between 1995 and 2003. Addresses were geocoded and linked to the 2000 census 5-digit zip code-level database that includes community demographic, social and economic characteristics. Clustering of patients having a family history of ESRD at the community level was accounted for using a generalized estimating equations (GEE) model. Multivariate analysis estimated associations between family history of ESRD and community-level characteristics. RESULTS Twenty-three percent of patients reported a family history of ESRD. After adjusting for individual demographic characteristics, multivariate analyses failed to reveal statistically significant relationships between a family history of ESRD and indicators of community socioeconomic status such as median household income, percentage high school graduates, percentage vacant housing units or ethnic composition. CONCLUSIONS Although select community measures of lower socioeconomic status may contribute to the familial clustering of ESRD, non-socioeconomic factors, potentially inherited, appear to be more important contributors to familial aggregation of the common forms of ESRD.