1. The impact of dialysis therapy on older patients with advanced chronic kidney disease: a nationwide population-based study
- Author
-
Wu Chang Yang, Yung Tai Chen, Shu-Chen Kuo, Shuo-Ming Ou, Der-Cherng Tarng, and Chia-Jen Shih
- Subjects
Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Databases, Factual ,National Health Programs ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Cost-Benefit Analysis ,Population ,Decision Making ,Taiwan ,Cohort Studies ,Advanced chronic kidney disease ,Renal Dialysis ,Risk Factors ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Risk of mortality ,Humans ,Renal Insufficiency, Chronic ,education ,Intensive care medicine ,Dialysis ,Aged ,Retrospective Studies ,Medicine(all) ,Aged, 80 and over ,education.field_of_study ,business.industry ,Hazard ratio ,Retrospective cohort study ,General Medicine ,Health Care Costs ,medicine.disease ,Confidence interval ,Female ,Conservative care ,Older people ,business ,Cohort study ,Kidney disease ,Research Article - Abstract
Background Older patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) face the decision of whether to undergo dialysis. Currently available data on this issue are limited because they were generated by small, short-term studies with statistical drawbacks. Further research is urgently needed to provide objective information for dialysis decision making in older patients with advanced CKD. Methods This nationwide population-based cohort study was conducted using Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database. Data from 2000 to 2010 were extracted. A total of 8,341 patients ≥70 years old with advanced CKD and serum creatinine levels >6 mg/dl, who had been treated with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents were included. Cox proportional hazard models in which initiation of chronic dialysis was defined as the time-dependent covariate were used to calculate adjusted hazard ratios for mortality. The endpoint was all-cause mortality. Results During a median follow-up period of 2.7 years, 6,292 (75.4%) older patients chose dialysis therapy and 2,049 (24.6%) received conservative care. Dialysis was initiated to treat kidney failure a median of 6.4 months after enrollment. Dialysis was associated with a 1.4-fold increased risk of mortality compared with conservative care (adjusted hazard ratio 1.39, 95% confidence interval 1.30 to 1.49). In subgroup analyses, the risk of mortality remained consistently increased, independent of age, sex and comorbidities. Conclusions In older patients, dialysis may be associated with increased mortality risk and healthcare cost compared with conservative care. For patients who are ≥70 years old with advanced CKD, decision making about whether to undergo dialysis should be weighted by consideration of risks and benefits. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12916-014-0169-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
- Published
- 2014