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Uptake of home dialysis by patients in first year varies by country

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By Mark E. Neumann

PHILADELPHIA — The percent of patients who choose home dialysis within the first year of treatment varies by country, a study presented here showed.

“There is a wide variability in home dialysis use from a high of 50% of patients receiving home dialysis in New Zealand to less than 10% in France,” Annabel Boyer, MD, of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Caen, Caen, Basse-Normandie, France, and colleagues from Canada, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom wrote in the poster. Read the article in Healio.

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Study: Racial gaps in home dialysis persist despite Medicare intervention

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By Shawn M. Carter
Racial gaps in home dialysis treatment still exist among patients with kidney disease, even after Medicare introduced a new payment structure to alleviate critical barriers to care, according to results of a recently published study. Congress approved the Medicare End-Stage Renal Disease prospective payment system (PPS) in 2011 to control costs and increase access to home peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis (HHD). But despite modest increases seen in dialysis availability and patient utilization following the reform, “significant racial disparities in home dialysis remain,” Virginia Wang, PhD, faculty at the Duke University School of Medicine and lead research author, wrote in the study. Read the full story in Healio.

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Home dialysis improves quality of life prior to dialysis dependence, many do not choose it

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ORLANDO — Patients with chronic kidney disease who choose home dialysis have improved health-related quality of life prior to dialysis dependence compared with patients on other modalities, according to a presenter at ASN Kidney Week.

However, less than half of patients in the study chose home dialysis as their treatment modality. Read more in Healio.

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Patients who receive CKD education are likely to choose home dialysis at initiation

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Compared with patients who did not receive chronic kidney disease education, those who did were more likely to choose home dialysis and a permanent vascular access at initiation.

“Treatment options for kidney failure are complex, and the majority of patients who develop kidney failure lack important information about treatment options and are not prepared to make informed decisions about their care,” Katherine Mckeon, MSPH, from DaVita Clinical Research in Minnesota, and colleagues wrote.  Read more in Healio.

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Thorough evaluation key in identification of candidates for home dialysis, transplant

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PHOENIX — Successful transition from chronic kidney disease to either home dialysis or transplantation requires a thorough evaluation of a patient’s psychosocial and economic status, speakers said at the Southwest Nephrology Conference.

“The role of the social worker is vital to the stability of a patient on a home modality,”Lauren Pelletier, MSW, CCM, a social worker for patients on peritoneal dialysis at DaVita Inc. “Psychosocial status impacts a patient’s ability to adhere to treatment,” she said. “As social workers, we can assist patients with emotionally adjusting to dialysis,” Pelletier said. Read more.

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