In previous newsletters I delineated the QUEST initiative of the ERA-EDTA. QUEST (QUality European STudies) is not a research project on its own but an ambitious framework aimed at collecting data on Clinical Performance Measures, monitor guidelines adherence and form the basis for establishing well pondered benchmarks. An important goal of the project is that of producing a large, high quality clinical data base allowing all investigators to perform specific projects in the broad area of epidemiology of kidney diseases.

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Report on the ERA-EDTA introductory course on Epidemiology

In the middle of September a nice hotel in the Roman hills was the venue of the first introductory course on epidemiology, one of the ERA-EDTA CME courses. Twenty-three participants from nine countries attended the two-day course, in which lectures and hands-on sessions provided an orientation to epidemiology. Members of the ERA-EDTA Registry committee, including nephrologists who are experienced in epidemiological research, together with epidemiologists and medical information scientists from the ERA-EDTA Registry office, tried to relate theory to examples from nephrology.

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Currently, the ERA-EDTA Registry database consists of data on almost 640.000 patients. These data are received from 14 national and regional registries. Variables included in the database are: a patient identifier, date of birth, gender, primary renal disease, date of first RRT, history of RRT with dates and changes of modality, treatment centre, date and cause of death, and information concerning transfer from or to other renal registries. With these data, the registry performs statistical analyses for annual reports and a number of studies.

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The derangements in bone and mineral metabolism are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Poorly-controlled parathyroid function contributes not only to bone problems but also to an increase in the risk of vascular and valvular calcifications, with influences in the cardiovascular death risk in the dialysis population. These facts emphasis the need for more careful monitoring and better management of secondary hyperparathyroidism. Unfortunately most of the clinical studies performed on renal osteodystrophy have been conducted on specific populations but these results do not reflect what happens in the current management of renal osteodystrophy in Europe.

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from Kitty Jager, Managing Director of the ERA-EDTA Registry

Correlation and regression analysis are widely used in medical research. Both describe the relationship between two variables. Although correlation and regression are mathematically related, they serve different purposes.

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