What does an eGFR of 60 mean?
An eGFR of 60 mL/min/1.73m² sits right at the bottom edge of KDIGO band G2, "mildly decreased", one point above where band G3a begins. Guidelines treat 60 as an important line, so a result here usually leads to a repeat test rather than to any conclusion. It does not stage chronic kidney disease on its own: that needs the level to stay low for more than three months, plus a urine test for albumin.
60 mL/min/1.73m² is the conventional unit used by KDIGO and by labs in most countries. In SI units the same result is 1.00 mL/s/1.73m², since 1 mL/min/1.73m² equals about 0.0167 mL/s/1.73m². Some labs report anything above this level as ">60" instead of an exact figure, which is why a first true number often appears only when the result reaches this point.
What this test measures
eGFR stands for estimated glomerular filtration rate — an estimate of how much blood the microscopic filters in your kidneys clean every minute. The "1.73m²" means the figure has been scaled to a standard adult body size so people of different sizes can be compared. Nothing is filtered or measured directly. The lab measures creatinine, a waste product muscles release into the blood all day, and an equation converts it into an estimate using your age and sex. That makes eGFR useful for screening but sensitive to things that have nothing to do with kidneys: unusually high or low muscle mass, a large meat meal before the test, dehydration, a recent infection, pregnancy, and some medicines. Labs also use different versions of the equation, and the older and newer versions can give different numbers from the same blood. Being close to a cut-off simply means the ordinary variation between tests matters more.
Where 60 mL/min/1.73m² sits
The KDIGO chronic kidney disease guideline sorts eGFR into "G stages", all in mL/min/1.73m²: G1 is 90 or above, G2 is 60–89 (mildly decreased), G3a is 45–59, G3b is 30–44, G4 is 15–29, and G5 is under 15. A result of exactly 60 falls at the very bottom of G2 — inside the mildly decreased band, not below it. Sixty matters because KDIGO uses it as the level at which a sustained low eGFR counts as chronic kidney disease even when no other sign of damage is present. The word doing the work there is "sustained": one reading on one day cannot stage anything. KDIGO asks for the result to persist beyond three months and for a urine albumin test (ACR) to sit alongside it, because albumin is the second axis of the staging chart. Only a doctor with your full record can say what a 60 means in your case.
What to do next
- Contact the doctor or clinic that ordered the test and ask them to go through it with you. Sitting at a guideline cut-off is precisely the situation where a number needs a person to interpret it.
- Ask when the test will be repeated. Repeat testing over weeks to months is the standard way to separate a genuine change from normal test-to-test variation — it is a routine step, not a warning sign.
- Ask whether a urine albumin test (ACR) has been done. Without it, the eGFR figure is only one half of the KDIGO picture.
- Find your previous kidney results if you can. A 60 that has been 60 for five years reads very differently from a 60 that was 85 last year.
- Bring a full list of everything you take — prescribed, bought without a prescription, herbal or supplement — so your doctor can review it against these results. Do not stop or change anything on your own.
Common questions
Is an eGFR of 60 stage 3 kidney disease?
No. Sixty sits just inside band G2, and G3a starts below 60. Even a result under 60 is not stage 3 chronic kidney disease until it has stayed there for more than three months and been assessed alongside a urine test. A single blood test cannot stage anything.
Why does everyone talk about 60?
Because KDIGO and other guidelines use 60 as the level at which a sustained low eGFR counts as chronic kidney disease even without other signs of damage. Landing exactly on the line is a reason to repeat the test, not a reason to panic — plenty of people hover around 60 for years without anything changing.
How soon should the test be repeated?
That is your doctor's call and depends on why the test was ordered and what else is going on. Some people are retested within weeks, others after a few months. Ask before you leave the clinic so you know the plan rather than guessing.
Does my age change what an eGFR of 60 means?
It changes how doctors read it. Average filtering rates drift down with age, so 60 in an 80-year-old is a very different conversation from 60 in a 25-year-old. Experts still debate whether the 60 line should shift with age, which is another reason the number needs interpreting by a person who knows you.
I feel completely fine. How can my kidneys be involved?
Reduced filtering usually causes no symptoms at all until it is far more advanced, which is exactly why it is picked up on blood tests rather than because someone feels unwell. Feeling well is good news, but it is not a reason to skip the follow-up.
Will my eGFR keep falling?
Nobody can predict that from one reading. Some people stay stable for decades, some drift down slowly, and some results come back up once a short-term cause passes. The trend across several tests is what tells the story, and only your doctor can read that trend properly.
Could the lab have got it wrong?
Labs use different equipment and different versions of the eGFR equation, so the same blood can produce slightly different numbers in different places. That is normal and expected. It is one more reason single results are always checked by repeating them.