Table 1.

Differences in the epidemiology and outcomes of AKI between high- and low-income Western countries

	High income	Low income
Incidence	Increasing	Increasing
Etiologies	Sepsis, hypovolemia, drugs, and ischemia	Similar etiologies in urban areas; more diarrhea, tropical diseases, animal venoms, and obstetric complications in rural areas
Types of population	Often older patients with multiple comorbidities	Similar populations in urban areas; younger populations in rural areas
Location	Often in intensive care units	More often community acquired
Number of organs affected	Often associated with multiorgan failure	More often a single-organ disease in rural areas
Availability of dialysis	Not a concern to most patients	Major issue
Mortality	Overall decreasing; higher mortality if associated with multiorgan failure	Overall decreasing; mortality seems higher than in high-income countries for similar disease severity
Cost	Very high	Depending on resources
Prevention	Avoidance of nephrotoxins, more difficult to prevent	Importance of timely hydration and treatment of infections
Report	Excellent data	Limited data

Adapted from Mehta et al. [1].