Contrasting perceptions of home dialysis therapies among in-center and home dialysis staff

Home dialysis offers many advantages over in-center dialysis, but peritoneal dialysis and home hemodialysis are infrequently used. To better understand why, a survey of dialysis healthcare professionals (N = 273) in the United States was conducted to assess their knowledge, perceptions, and beliefs about home dialysis modalities. Most survey respondents demonstrated a lack of knowledge about home dialysis and perceived many barriers to home therapy, which may affect patient modality choice; however, 90% of respondents stated they would choose home dialysis for themselves if they required dialysis. Additional staff education may help reduce misperceptions, address knowledge gaps, and subsequently, increase use of home modalities. Key Words: Home dialysis, in-center dialysis, renal replacement therapy, end stage renal disease, chronic kidney disease.
Home dialysis modalities (peritoneal dialysis [PD] and home hemodialysis [HHD]) offer many benefits to patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) compared -with conventional thrice-weekly, in-center hemodialysis (ICHD) (Chan et [...]