For that purpose, the predictive effects of the following variables on renal survival were analyzed: gender, age, ANCA specificity, diagnosis, AAGN class, proteinuria, and treatment with CYC and GFR at 12 months.
Since the introduction of the histopathological classification of AAGN in 2010 [2], several groups have validated the prognostic usefulness of this classification in relation to renal outcomes [3-5, 19-25].
In addition, we observed that AAGN classification was predictive, as the risk of progressing to ESRD increased with the ascending category of focal, crescentic, mixed and sclerotic AAGN.
For up to 5 years, the difference between histology categories was significant (p<0.001, Kruskal-Wallis test), and the Bonferroni-corrected pairwise comparisons detected a significant difference between the focal and sclerotic AAGN (p<0.001).
The univariate Cox proportional hazards model HR (95% CI) 0.11 (0.03-0.41), p=0.001 in focal; 0.32 (0.11-0.90), p=0.03 in crescentic; and 0.49 (0.18-1.33), p=0.16 in mixed AAGN when sclerotic AAGN was included as a reference.
AAGN's approach is not confrontational in terms of public protests but rather involves directly addressing policies and practices that have (perhaps unintentionally) excluded African American practitioners, vendors, and clients.
AAGN also began to serve as a forum in which researchers and practitioners could establish a dialogue regarding their work.
Therefore, the mission established for AAGN includes reducing feelings of alienation by increasing networking opportunities for African American vendors.
The objectives of AAGN are to work toward improving the quality of life of older African Americans by fostering the development of an infrastructure providing access to services from the public and private sectors in eight areas of service: (1) security and safety, (2) housing, (3) health care, (4) food preparation and shopping assistance, (5) social services, (6) business services, (7) government services and funding sources, and (8) the private sector (See Table 1.)
The Executive Board of AAGN consists of a president, a vice president, two secretaries, and a treasurer (Figure 1).
The committee structure of AAGN is composed of the Program Committee, the Vendors Committee, the Academic Committee, the Agency Committee, the Legislative advocacy Committee, and the Health Committee.
The Legislative Advocacy Committee examines policies and legislation affecting older African Americans and AAGN members and recommends a plan of action.