An on-going case-control study will be conducted investigate the role of chronic exposure to hydrocarbons in causing chronic renal failure. Because of an ever increasing number of end-stage renal disease patients (ESRD), those requiring dialysis or having had a renal transplant, they have become a major factor in Medicare expenditures. Elucidating the processes leading to ESRD and finding ways to control them are the most valid ways to reduce the personal, social and economic hardships produced by this condition. In the Oklahoma and Tulsa county areas of Oklahoma all adult patients with chronic renal failure (both those with ESRD and those not yet at that stage) having a confirmed diagnosis of chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN) will be identified and entered into the study as cases. All new cases over the next three years meeting these requirements will also be included. An age-sex matched control group will be selected from the general population using a random digit dialing technique. The target number of total cases and controls will be 500 of each. Each case and control will be administered a questionnaire which will elicit information on occupational hisotry, medical history and family medical history as well as pertinent demographic data. An exposure index to hydrocarbons will be calculated and used in an univariate and multivariate statistical analysis of risk factors for chronic renal failure. The univariate analysis will employ the Odds Ratio and the multivariate analysis will employ Cox's Linear Logistic Regression Model.
