Executive summary for the 2015 Annual Data Report of the China Kidney Disease Network (CK-NET).

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has received increased attention as a leading public health problem worldwide. Globally surveillance systems for kidney disease are still lacking, especially in developing countries like China, which constitutes an obstacle to develop effective preventive strategies. China Kidney Disease Network (CK-NET) was initiated in 2014 and further developed in accordance with the national strategy of prompting Big Data application in China. One major output of CK-NET is to generate an Annual Data Report (ADR) providing resourceful information regarding kidney disease in China. Entering the second cycle of ADR, we have expanded the scope and depth of our research based on the previous ADR. There are 2 sections in the current ADR, generated from data from 2015 from various sources. Section I is based on a dataset of national hospitalized patients and describes the characteristics regarding hospitalized patients with CKD. Section II focuses on patients receiving renal replacement therapy based on 2 nationwide claims databases. There is also a chapter that focuses on patients on the waiting list for renal transplantation based on the China Organ Transplant Response System. Certain findings, including the effect of metabolic disease on the spectrum of CKD, the underdiagnoses of CKD and acute kidney injury among hospitalized patients, and the less-optimal treatment of complications among dialysis patients, will inspire the following research as well as changes in health policy. By integrating and mining national patient-level administrative or claim databases, we are able to provide a comprehensive description of the burden of CKD and end stage kidney disease in China, which could be used by multiple stakeholders with interests in kidney disease.