Dataset Information

Global nephrology workforce: gaps and opportunities toward a sustainable kidney care system.

ABSTRACT: The health workforce is the cornerstone of any health care system. An adequately trained and sufficiently staffed workforce is essential to reach universal health coverage. In particular, a nephrology workforce is critical to meet the growing worldwide burden of kidney disease. Despite some attempts, the global nephrology workforce and training capacity remains widely unknown. This multinational cross-sectional survey was part of the Global Kidney Health Atlas project, a new initiative administered by the International Society of Nephrology (ISN). The objective of this study was to address the existing global nephrology workforce and training capacity. The questionnaire was administered online, and all data were analyzed and presented by ISN regions and World Bank country classification. Overall, 125 United Nations member states responded to the entire survey, with 121 countries responding to survey questions pertaining to the nephrology workforce. The global nephrologist density was 8.83 per million population (PMP); high-income countries reported a nephrologist density of 28.52 PMP compared with 0.31 PMP in low-income countries. Similarly, the global nephrologist trainee density was 1.87 PMP; high-income countries reported a 30 times greater nephrology trainee density than low-income countries (6.03 PMP vs. 0.18 PMP). Countries reported a shortage in all care providers in nephrology. A nephrology training program existed in 79% of countries, ranging from 97% in high-income countries to 41% in low-income countries. In countries with a training program, the majority (86%) of programs were 2 to 4 years, and the most common training structure (56%) was following general internal medicine. We found significant variation in the global density of nephrologists and nephrology trainees and shortages in all care providers in nephrology; the gap was more prominent in low-income countries, particularly in African and South Asian ISN regions. These findings point to significant gaps in the current nephrology workforce and opportunities for countries and regions to develop and maintain a sustainable workforce.

SUBMITTER: Osman MA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6336213 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Global nephrology workforce: gaps and opportunities toward a sustainable kidney care system.

Osman Mohamed A MA Alrukhaimi Mona M Ashuntantang Gloria E GE Bellorin-Font Ezequiel E Benghanem Gharbi Mohammed M Braam Branko B Courtney Mark M Feehally John J Harris David C DC Jha Vivekanand V Jindal Kailash K Johnson David W DW Kalantar-Zadeh Kamyar K Kazancioglu Rumeyza R Klarenbach Scott S Levin Adeera A Lunney Meaghan M Okpechi Ikechi G IG Olanrewaju Timothy Olusegun TO Perl Jeffrey J Rashid Harun Ur HU Rondeau Eric E Salako Babatunde Lawal BL Samimi Arian A Sola Laura L Tchokhonelidze Irma I Wiebe Natasha N Yang Chih-Wei CW Ye Feng F Zemchenkov Alexander A Zhao Ming-Hui MH Bello Aminu K AK Bello Aminu K AK

Kidney international supplements 20180119 2

The health workforce is the cornerstone of any health care system. An adequately trained and sufficiently staffed workforce is essential to reach universal health coverage. In particular, a nephrology workforce is critical to meet the growing worldwide burden of kidney disease. Despite some attempts, the global nephrology workforce and training capacity remains widely unknown. This multinational cross-sectional survey was part of the Global Kidney Health Atlas project, a new initiative administe ...[more]

PMID: 30675439

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Dataset Information

Global nephrology workforce: gaps and opportunities toward a sustainable kidney care system.

Publications

Global nephrology workforce: gaps and opportunities toward a sustainable kidney care system.

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