Epidemiology and HealthNov 2, 2026, 09:24 GMT

Kidney disease became more common across the pandemic in Korea

Chronic kidney disease affected 4.65% of adults before the pandemic, 7.88% during it and 7.49% afterward in nationally representative Korean surveys.

Paper by Jaeuk Shin, Yu-Ji Lee · Changwon Fatima Hospital · Samsung Changwon Hospital

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Populations

Studied:: Cross-sectional study of 44,831 Korean adults aged 19 or older, against the pre-pandemic period
What changed:: Chronic kidney disease prevalence rose from 4.65% before the pandemic to 7.88% during and 7.49% after it
The catch:: The increase was driven by proteinuria, while kidney filtration rates showed minimal change
In the record:: The 204th paper on COVID-19 pandemic with results in people; 310 on record in all.
Why it’s aging research:: It bears on staying healthy in midlife and later life.

Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News

Paper

In an observational study of 44,831 Korean adults aged 19 or older, researchers analyzed repeated cross-sectional surveys from 2017–2024. Participants averaged 52.8 years old, and 44.5% were men. The researchers compared periods before (2017–2019), during (2020–2021) and after (2022–2024) the pandemic.

The link between the pandemic periods and higher odds of chronic kidney disease persisted after statistical adjustments. Proteinuria—protein in urine—affected 3.27% before, 6.68% during and 6.18% afterward. Estimated rates of blood filtering by the kidneys changed little, with no significant trend over time. The authors concluded that the higher disease prevalence largely reflected sustained increases in proteinuria. Associations were strongest among middle-aged and older adults, particularly for proteinuria among those aged 65 or older.

Why it matters

The authors called for continued kidney monitoring and measures to reduce risks related to heart and metabolic health, particularly among middle-aged and older adults.

Caveats

The cross-sectional surveys compared population snapshots rather than tracking individuals over time. They cannot establish that the pandemic caused the increase.