There are a number of tests involved in diagnosing kidney failure:

The glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and the stages of chronic kidney disease.

The glomerular filtration rate is a measure of kidney function. It is arrived at by looking at blood creatinine test results, weight, body size, age and gender. The rate itself is a measure of how many millilitres of wate products the kidneys can filter in a minute and is used to indicate how far the disease has progresses. A healthy pair of kidneys should be able to filter more than 90ml per minute.

The phases of chronic kidney disease have been categorised into 5 distinct stages;