Energy Burden and Chronic Kidney Disease: A National Study in the United States

Energy burden, the inability to afford sufficient energy sources for basic household needs such as heating, cooling, cooking, and lighting, is one of the major social challenges in the U.S. While limited studies have examined these issues separately, to our knowledge, no study has empirically investigated the implication of energy burden for chronic kidney disease (CKD) within the U.S. context. This study aims to examine the association between energy burden and CKD prevalence across 500 U.S. cities by using nationally representative data sets. Utilizing propensity score matching and a random intercept analysis, we found that census tracts with high energy burden were significantly associated with a 0.195 higher chronic kidney prevalence [95% CI: 0.144-0.246] compared to those with low energy burden, after adjusting key observed characteristics such as living, housing, and sociodemographic conditions of census tracts. Other risk factors contributing to increased CKD prevalence included older building age, higher percentages of nonwhite populations and older adults, lower educational levels, and lower average household incomes. The findings highlight that energy burden is not merely a financial problem but rather a social determinant of CKD health and a significant risk factor for increased CKD prevalence in U.S. urban areas. Our results indicate that state and local energy assistance programs may serve as important interventions not only for improving kidney health outcomes but also for reducing health disparities in the U.S.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Environment & Health
Published
2025-06-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1021/envhealth.4c00272
Primary Topic
Energy and Environment Impacts
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Energy Burden and Chronic Kidney Disease: A National Study in the United States

Soojin Han, Changwei Li, Youqin Huang, Thilini Wijerathna et al.
Environment & Health
Energy and Environment Impacts
article

Energy Burden and Chronic Kidney Disease: A National Study in the United States

Soojin Han, Changwei Li, Youqin Huang, Thilini Wijerathna, Xiang Qian Lao, Xiuxia Du, Hee Yun Lee, Eun Young Choi, Yeon Jin Choi, Min Zhang, Kai Zhang, Sa Liu, Ming Hu
article en

Abstract

Energy burden, the inability to afford sufficient energy sources for basic household needs such as heating, cooling, cooking, and lighting, is one of the major social challenges in the U.S. While limited studies have examined these issues separately, to our knowledge, no study has empirically investigated the implication of energy burden for chronic kidney disease (CKD) within the U.S. context. This study aims to examine the association between energy burden and CKD prevalence across 500 U.S. cities by using nationally representative data sets. Utilizing propensity score matching and a random intercept analysis, we found that census tracts with high energy burden were significantly associated with a 0.195 higher chronic kidney prevalence [95% CI: 0.144-0.246] compared to those with low energy burden, after adjusting key observed characteristics such as living, housing, and sociodemographic conditions of census tracts. Other risk factors contributing to increased CKD prevalence included older building age, higher percentages of nonwhite populations and older adults, lower educational levels, and lower average household incomes. The findings highlight that energy burden is not merely a financial problem but rather a social determinant of CKD health and a significant risk factor for increased CKD prevalence in U.S. urban areas. Our results indicate that state and local energy assistance programs may serve as important interventions not only for improving kidney health outcomes but also for reducing health disparities in the U.S.

Environment & HealthVol. 3(9)
University of North Carolina at Charlotte (US), University of Notre Dame (US), Albany State University (US), University of Southern California (US), University of North Texas (US), University of Kentucky (US), University of North Texas Health Science Center (US), City University of Hong Kong (HK), University of Alabama (US), General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (LK), Purdue University West Lafayette (US), California Southern University (US), University at Albany, State University of New York (US), Southwestern Medical Center (US), Institut thématique Génétique, génomique et bioinformatique (FR), Vanke (China) (CN), Southwestern Medical Center (US), Japan College of Social Work (JP), The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (US), Tsinghua University (CN)
American Heart Association, State University of New York
Good health and well-being
Openalex Percentile: Top 90%
Energy and Environment Impacts
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.