Race-Free Equations and Cardiovascular Risk Assessment: Much Ado About Something
By: George A. Mensah
References
- Khan SS, Matsushita K, Sang Y, Ballew SH, Grams ME, Surapaneni A, et al. Development and validation of the American Heart Association’s PREVENT equations. Circulation. 2024;149(6):430–449. DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.123.067626
- Levey AS, Bosch JP, Lewis JB, Greene T, Rogers N, Roth D. A more accurate method to estimate glomerular filtration rate from serum creatinine: A new prediction equation. Modification of Diet in Renal Disease Study Group. Ann Intern Med. 1999;130(6):461–470. DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-130-6-199903160-00002
- Levey AS, Stevens LA, Schmid CH, Zhang YL, Castro AF, Feldman HI, et al. A new equation to estimate glomerular filtration rate. Ann Intern Med. 2009;150(9):604–612. DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-150-9-200905050-00006
- Delgado C, Baweja M, Crews DC, Eneanya ND, Gadegbeku CA, Inker LA, et al. A unifying approach for GFR estimation: Recommendations of the NKF-ASN task force on reassessing the inclusion of race in diagnosing kidney disease. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2021;32(12):2994–3015. DOI: 10.1681/ASN.2021070988
- Lujan HL, DiCarlo SE. Science reflects history as society influences science: Brief history of “race,” “race correction,” and the spirometer. Adv Physiol Educ. 2018;42(2):163–165. DOI: 10.1152/advan.00196.2017
- Goff DC,
Jr. , Lloyd-Jones DM, Bennett G, Coady S, D’Agostino RB, Gibbons R, et al. 2013 ACC/AHA guideline on the assessment of cardiovascular risk: A report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association task force on practice guidelines. Circulation. 2014;129(25 Suppl 2):S49–S73. DOI: 10.1161/01.cir.0000437741.48606.98 - Vyas DA, Eisenstein LG, Jones DS. Hidden in plain sight — Reconsidering the use of race correction in clinical algorithms. N Engl J Med. 2020;383(9):874–882. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMms2004740
- Huisman BJMV, Vosters TG, Agyemang C, van den Born BH, van Valkengoed IGM, Vogt L. Impact of adopting the race/ethnicity-free 2021 CKD-EPI equation on cardiovascular risk stratification in a multiethnic European population: Results from the HELIUS study. Glob Heart. 2026;21(1):
62 . DOI: 10.5334/gh.1579 - Inker LA, Eneanya ND, Coresh J, Tighiouart H, Wang D, Sang Y, et al. New creatinine- and cystatin C-based equations to estimate GFR without race. N Engl J Med. 2021;385(19):1737–1749. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2102953
- Gutiérrez OM, Sang Y, Grams ME, Ballew SH, Surapaneni A, Matsushita K, et al. Association of estimated GFR calculated using race-free equations with kidney failure and mortality by black vs non-black race. JAMA. 2022;327(23):2306–2316. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2022.8801
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/gh.1591 | Journal eISSN: 2211-8179
Language: English
Page range: 76 - 76
Submitted on: Sep 24, 2026
Accepted on: Sep 28, 2026
Published on: Oct 23, 2026
Published by: Ubiquity Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Keywords:
© 2026 George A. Mensah, published by Ubiquity Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.