Peritoneal dialysis in the nursing home

Helper-assisted continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis: Does the choice of helper matter?

BACKGROUND

There is an increasing number of elderly patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) who could not perform dialysis exchange themselves and require assistance. We examine the outcome of Chinese CAPD patients who required helper-assisted dialysis and compare the outcome between different types of helper.

METHODS

We reviewed 133 incident patients on helper-assisted CAPD and 266 incident patients who performed self-CAPD exchanges (self-peritoneal dialysis (PD) group). Outcome measures included patient survival, peritonitis-free survival, and overall peritonitis rate.

RESULTS

At 24 months, patient survival of the helper-assisted and self-PD groups were 56.0% and 80.6%, respectively (p < 0.0001). Within the helper-assisted group, patient survival at 24 months was 55.5%, 63.2%, and 27.2% for the patients with domestic helper, family member, and nursing home staff as their helpers, respectively (p = 0.037). Peritonitis-free survival of the helper-assisted and self-PD groups were 54.2% and 64.9%, respectively (p = 0.039). Within the helper-assisted group, peritonitis-free survival at 24 months was 59.4%, 55.4%, and 37.2% for the patients with domestic helper, family member, and nursing home staff as their helpers, respectively (p = 0.06). There was no significant difference in peritonitis rate between patients with domestic helper, family member, and nursing home staff as their helpers (0.54, 0.57, and 0.94 episodes per patient-year, respectively, p = 0.2).

CONCLUSIONS

Helper-assisted CAPD patients had worse patient survival and peritonitis-free survival than the self-PD group. Assistance by nursing home staff was associated with worse patients' survival and peritonitis-free survival than assistance by family members or domestic maids.

End-stage renal disease in nursing homes: a systematic review

OBJECTIVES/INTRODUCTION

Demand for nursing home (NH) care by patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is likely to increase with growing numbers of older adults initiating chronic dialysis. We completed a systematic review to summarize the literature on NH residents with ESRD.

METHODS

MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, and relevant conference proceedings were searched to identify articles using the following MESH terms or related key words in the title or abstract: "residential facilities", "renal dialysis", "renal replacement therapy", and "chronic kidney failure". We selected case control, cohort studies, and clinical trials that included older adults with ESRD (defined as those receiving chronic dialysis or those with stage 5 chronic kidney disease) living in residential care facilities. We abstracted information on study design, quality, and results.

RESULTS

Of 198 unique citations identified by the search strategy, 14 articles met eligibility criteria. Most articles were multicenter studies that were conducted in the 1990 s. One study focused on patients with stage 5 chronic kidney disease, and the remaining 13 studies focused on patients receiving chronic dialysis, of which eight studies included only those receiving peritoneal dialysis, four studies included patients receiving both peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis, and one study included only patients receiving hemodialysis. All studies were observational, no clinical trials were identified, and study design limitations and heterogeneity within study populations were common. Summarizing results across these studies suggests that NH residents with ESRD have limited survival, particularly early after dialysis initiation. Functional impairment is highly prevalent in this population and independently associated with poor outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

NH residents with ESRD appear to be a particularly vulnerable population, but current information on their prevalence, characteristics, and outcomes is limited. Further research is needed to provide a better understanding of modifiable predictors of survival and functional decline in this population.