Is peritoneal dialysis a good option for black patients?

Home Dialysis Utilization Among Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the United States at the National, Regional, and State Level

♦ BACKGROUND: United States Renal Data System (USRDS) data from 2014 show that African Americans (AA) are underrepresented in the home dialysis population, with 6.4% versus 9.2% utilization in the general populace. This racial disparity may be inaccurately ascribed to the nation as a whole if regional and inter-state variability exists. This investigation sought to examine home dialysis utilization by minority Medicare beneficiary populations across the US nationally, regionally, and by individual state. ♦ METHODS: The 2012 Medicare 100% Outpatient Standard Analytic File was used to identify all Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) patients, with state of residence and race, receiving an outpatient dialysis facility bill type. Peritoneal dialysis (PD) and home hemodialysis (HHD) patients were identified using revenue and condition codes and were defined by having at least one claim during the year that met criteria for the category. Beneficiaries were counted once for each modality used that year. A home dialysis utilization ratio (UR) was calculated as the ratio of the proportion of a minority on PD or HHD within a geographic division to the proportion of Caucasians on PD or HHD within the same geographic division. A UR less than 1.00 indicated under-representation while a UR over 1.00 indicated over-representation. Utilization ratios were compared using a Poisson regression model. ♦ RESULTS: A total of 369,164 Medicare FFS dialysis patients were identified. Within the total cohort, AA were the most underrepresented minority on PD (UR 0.586; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.585 - 0.586; p < 0.0001), followed by Hispanics (UR 0.744; 95% CI 0.743 - 0.744; p < 0.0001). The underutilization of PD by AA and Hispanics could not be ascribed to any region of the US, as all regions of the US had UR < 1.00. Only Massachusetts had a UR > 1.00 for AA on PD. Peritoneal dialysis UR values for Asians and those self-identified as Other were 0.954; 95% CI 0.953 - 0.954 and 0.932; 95% CI 0.931 - 0.932, respectively. Nationally, all minorities utilized HHD less than Caucasians. However, more variability existed, with Asians utilizing more HHD than Caucasians in the Midwest. ♦ CONCLUSIONS: Although regional and interstate variability exists, there is near universal under-representation of AA and Hispanics in the home dialysis population, while Asians and Other demonstrate more interregional and interstate variability.

Causes for Withdrawal in an Urban Peritoneal Dialysis Program

Background. Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is an underutilized dialysis modality in the United States, especially in urban areas with diverse patient populations. Technique retention is a major concern of dialysis providers and might influence their approach to patients ready to begin dialysis therapy. Methods. Records from January 2009 to March 2014 were abstracted for demographic information, technique duration, and the reasons for withdrawal. Results. The median technique survival of the 128 incident patients during the study window was 781 days (2.1 years). The principle reasons for PD withdrawal were repeated peritonitis (30%); catheter dysfunction (18%); ultrafiltration failure (16%); patient choice or lack of support (16%); or hernia, leak, or other surgical complications (6%); and a total of 6 patients died during this period. Of the patients who did not expire and were not transplanted, most transferred to in-center hemodialysis and 8% transitioned to home-hemodialysis. Conclusions. Our findings suggest measures to ensure proper catheter placement and limiting infectious complications should be primary areas of focus in order to promote technique retention. Lastly, more focused education about home-hemodialysis as an option may allow those on PD who are beginning to demonstrate signs of technique failure to stay on home therapy.

Race, gender, and incident dialysis patients' reported health status and quality of life

Patient-reported physical and mental health status, along with disease-specific concerns ("quality of life") reported by patients, provide information about experience on dialysis that can help to improve patient care. Among prevalent hemodialysis (HD) patients, blacks have been shown to report higher health status and quality of life scores than whites, but whether similar race differences characterize incident patients who start regular dialysis is not known. Health status and quality of life, measured by the Kidney Disease Quality of Life-Short Form, reported by black men, black women, white men, and white women who initiated HD and peritoneal dialysis (PD) in the Dialysis Morbidity and Mortality Study (DMMS) Wave 2 were examined. After adjustment for patients' sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, the only race differences observed were that among HD patients, black women scored highest on the burden of kidney disease measure (lower perceived burden), and among PD patients, black men had the lowest satisfaction with care scores. It is possible that differences between blacks' and whites' reported health status and quality of life become more evident as patients' dialysis vintage increases, a hypothesis that requires following a well-characterized incident cohort over time. These findings add to existing evidence that minority patients on dialysis report less satisfaction with their care than do white patients, an important area for continued study.

Role of APD in compliance with therapy

Lack of compliance with prescribed treatment is an important cause of inadequate dialysis in patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD). The reported prevalence of noncompliance with treatment in PD varies from 5 to 38%. The predictors of noncompliance, its consequences, methods to identify and monitor compliance, differences in frequency between continuous ambulatory PD (CAPD) and automated PD (APD), and management are reviewed. The risk of noncompliance is greater in CAPD than in APD. Noncompliance should be managed by patient education and appropriate modification of therapy, including consideration of APD.

Does ethnicity influence perceived quality of life of patients on dialysis and following renal transplant?

BACKGROUND

Quality of life (QoL) as perceived by patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is an important measure of patient outcome. There is a high incidence of ESRD in the Indo-Asian population in the UK and a lower rate of transplantation compared with white Europeans. The aim of this study was to determine whether perceived quality of life was influenced by treatment modality and ethnicity.

METHODS

Sixty Indo-Asians treated with either peritoneal dialysis (n=20), hospital haemodialysis (n=20) or with a renal transplant (n=20) for >3 months were compared with 60 age-matched white Europeans closely matched for gender, diabetes and duration of renal replacement therapy. QoL was measured using the Kidney Disease and Quality of Life questionnaire (KDQOL-SF). The KDQOL-SF measures four QoL dimensions: physical health (PH), mental health (MH), kidney disease-targeted issues (KDI) and patient satisfaction (PS). Adequacy of treatment was measured by biochemistry, 24 h urine collection and dialysis kinetics. The number of comorbid conditions was scored. Social deprivation was calculated from the patient's postal address using Townsend scoring.

RESULTS

QoL was significantly lower in Indo-Asians than white Europeans for PH, MH and KDI. This was not related to treatment adequacy, which was similar in both for each modality. Indo-Asians had a worse index of social deprivation than white Europeans (P=0.008). PH and KDI were related to social deprivation (P=0.007 and P=0.005, respectively). QoL (except PS) was inversely correlated with comorbidity. Dialysis patients had higher comorbidity than transplant patients (P<0.02). Comparing only those dialysis patients considered fit for transplantation (n=51) with transplant patients, comorbidity was similar, but differences in QoL persisted.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrates a lower perceived QoL in Asians compared with white Europeans with ESRD. Analysis of QoL indicates that Asian patients in particular perceive kidney disease as a social burden, even if successfully transplanted.

Hybrid dialysis: recirculation peritoneal dialysis revisited

In a crossover trial, eight patients were studied during one treatment each of automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) and hybrid dialysis (HyD). During HyD, a fixed quantity of peritoneal dialysis fluid (PDF) was continuously removed at a flow rate of 141.3 +/- 23. 7 mL/min, dialyzed against the secondary dialysate (250 +/- 53.5 mL/min) generated by the hemodialysis delivery system with single-needle dialysis capability, and the regenerated PDF (PDF(HyD)) was reinfused into the peritoneal cavity. Despite using a smaller volume (6,195 +/- 737 versus 13,321 +/- 1,201 mL; P < 0. 0001) of PDF(HyD) with a lower glucose concentration (729 +/- 562 versus 1,659 +/- 373 mg/dL; P < 0.0001) and osmolality (331 +/- 79 versus 387 +/- 184 mOsm/kg; P < 0.001) during HyD compared with APD (PDF(APD)), weight loss was similar with both treatments (1.4 +/- 1. 0 versus 1.6 +/- 1.2 kg). Lactate levels were lower (3.2 +/- 2.5 versus 11.4 +/- 5.4 mEq/L), but pH (7.5 +/- 1.3 versus 5.6 +/- 0.9; P < 0.001) and bicarbonate concentration (22.6 +/- 8.0 versus 11.9 +/- 7.9 mEq/L; P < 0.0001) were greater in PDF(HyD) than PDF(APD). Although the mean dialysate calcium level was lower (6.0 +/- 0.5 versus 6.9 +/- 1.1 mg/dL; P < 0.001) in PDF(HyD), it was more stable throughout the dialysis compared with PDF(APD). A steeper concentration gradient between the blood and dialysate resulted in greater clearance of urea (26.5 +/- 9.1 versus 11.0 +/- 4.7 mL/min; P = 0.04), creatinine (24.1 +/- 11.4 versus 12.0 +/- 7.9 mL/min; P = 0.03), phosphate (19.2 +/- 4.3 versus 9.8 +/- 7.2 mL/min; P = 0.01), and uric acid (15.6 +/- 6.9 versus 9.1 +/- 2.7 mL/min; P = 0.04) and a greater percentage of reduction in values for blood urea nitrogen (20.7% +/- 7.7% versus 11.6% +/- 5.5%; P = 0.02), serum creatinine (16.1% +/- 5.3% versus 6.6% +/- 3.0%; P < 0.001), phosphate (22.7% +/- 8.9% versus 9.8% +/- 4.5%; P = 0.004), and uric acid (15.8% +/- 2.9% versus 6.3% +/- 3.4%; P < 0.001) during HyD than APD. To conclude, HyD is a novel dialytic technique that uses biocompatible bicarbonate-based dialysate to achieve excellent clearance of uremic toxins and ultrafiltration with minimal glucose load.

Racial differences in survival in an urban peritoneal dialysis program

We retrospectively evaluated 233 incident patients (61% black, 27% white, and 12% Hispanic/Asian) to our peritoneal dialysis (PD) program from January 1987 to September 1997 to identify any possible racial differences in patient survival. Information collected included clinical features, comorbid conditions, nutritional status, and dialysis dose at initiation of dialysis. The average age was 52 +/- 16 (SD) years, and 49% were men. Diabetes mellitus was present in 41% of patients. Overall follow-up was 31 +/- 24 (median 26) months during which time 21% of patients underwent transplant, 29% of patients transferred to hemodialysis (HD), and 42% of patients died. The Cox proportional hazards analysis, based on intent-to-treat, identified age (RR: 1.03), race (RR: 2.35, white versus black), cardiac disease (RR: 1.97), and serum albumin (RR: 0. 44) to independently predict mortality. Further analysis was performed based on diabetic status, and the analysis identified age (RR: 1.06), race (RR: 2.45, white versus black), and peripheral vascular disease (RR: 2.88) as predictors of mortality in diabetic patients. In nondiabetic patients, age (RR: 1.03), race (RR: 2.24, white versus black), cardiac disease (RR: 2.48), cerebrovascular disease (RR: 3.17), and serum albumin (RR: 0.39) were significant predictors of mortality. The significance of race persisted even after adjusting patients transferring to hemodialysis. The adjusted patient survival at 1, 2, and 5 years was 94%, 87% and 53% for black patients, and 86%, 72%, and 23% for white patients. The adjusted patient survival in diabetics at 1, 2, and 5 years was 92%, 79%, and 37% for black patients, and 82%, 56%, and 9% for white patients. The adjusted patient survival in nondiabetics at 1, 2, and 5 years was 94%, 91%, and 63% for black patients, and 88%, 82%, and 35% for white patients. In conclusion, long-term patient survival is better for black patients than white patients in our peritoneal dialysis program. Peritoneal dialysis should be considered a viable dialytic option for black patients entering an end-stage renal disease program.