Nilsson A, Thet Lwin Z M, Steen Carlsson K

Kostnader för kronisk njursjukdom – Vad betyder tidigare upptäckt och behandling?

The report is written in Swedish with a summary in English

Increasing focus on chronic kidney disease treatment

Chronic kidney disease is receiving increasing attention in health care. The current program for chronic kidney disease in Sweden emphasizes early detection and preventive treatments such as interventions regarding blood pressure, blood sugar control, kidney-protective drug treatment and efforts to improve living habits. Early detection and initiation of preventive treatment is expected to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events and impaired kidney function. This report highlights how the costs of health care and social care are affected in a five-year perspective if more people are treated for chronic kidney disease.

How were the analyses done?

The report presents results from model-based analyses of four scenarios. The scenarios assume different degrees of registered diagnosis of chronic kidney disease and different use of kidney-protecting drugs (so-called SGLT2 inhibitors). The four scenarios are compared with a current situation modelled on the description in the national care programme, informed by Swedish and Nordic registry studies, and clinical trial results.

What do the results show?

Increased efforts in preventive treatment with SGLT2 inhibitors in line with the national care program and quality indicators of the Swedish Renal Registry for Chronic Kidney Disease increase the costs of drugs in all four scenarios compared to the current situation. At the same time, all four scenario analyses show possible cost savings over a five-year period due to fewer people reaching the end-stage renal disease and fewer people suffering from cardiovascular events such as stroke, myocardial infarction and heart failure. Fewer cases of cardiovascular disease are then expected to free up resources and reduce costs in specialised care. The calculations of the model analysis indicate that these cost savings would be consistently greater than the cost increases in primary care for preventive treatment when more people are treated with medication.

For more information please contact Katarina Steen Carlsson

IHE RAPPORT 2025:14, IHE: Lund, Sweden