Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major public health issue that often remains undiagnosed until the advanced stages. It is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity, premature mortality, and reduced quality of life. If left untreated, CKD can progress to end-stage renal disease, requiring dialysis or transplantation.

A total of three systematic reviews and five guidelines were included to assess CKD screening benefits and target populations to inform the update of the Austrian preventive medical check-up programme.

Evidence indicates that CKD can be identified in community care settings, particularly among high-risk individuals with risk factors such as diabetes or hypertension. Screening improved the detection of kidney function impairment and markers of early kidney damage; however, most studies reported only surrogate outcomes, with limited evidence on long-term or patient-relevant benefits. Key limitations were short follow-up, inconsistent diagnostic methods, and a lack of chronicity confirmation, potentially compromising diagnostic accuracy. Current guidelines favour targeted testing in high-risk groups rather than routine population screening.

Strengthening CKD awareness and reinforcing guideline-based testing could improve early diagnosis and reduce disease burden. Routine kidney screening may be feasible within preventive programmes for high-risk groups, but broad population-wide implementation is not currently supported by evidence.