Kidney patients used dialysis more often in the US rather than other developed nations read more at here www.spinonews.com/index.php/item/991-kidney-patients-used-dialysis-more-often-in-the-us-rather-than-other-developed-nations

Compared to other developed countries, a significantly higher portion of chronic kidney disease patients in the United States received renal replacement therapy, or dialysis, raising questions about decision-making among clinicians who prescribe it.

In a recent study, more than 85 percent of patients either received dialysis treatment or were preparing to start.

In most countries, dialysis is age-dependent and is less likely to be prescribed at older ages because it does not often save lives or improve condition, serving more purpose as a procedure of maintenance.

Recent observational studies have suggested the treatment does not lengthen survival and has been linked to a poorer quality of life as opposed to other palliative approaches.

Dr. Susan Wong, a researcher at the University of Washington, said, "Our findings signal more liberal use of dialysis in our study cohort as compared with other developed countries, with differences being especially striking for older age groups."

For the study, researchers analyzed data collected by the U.S. Renal Data System, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and Medicare for 19,165 people.

In their research, 67.1 percent had received dialysis based on administrative data, with further examination of patient data suggesting another 7.5 percent had received the treatment, but it was not included in overall data. On top of this, 10.9 percent of patients were preparing for considering dialysis as part of their treatment.

The researchers were surprised to find out that patients around age 85 received dialysis 51.2 percent of the time, despite it not being expected to improve either health condition or quality of life.

Researchers say, the rates of use in the United States are exceedingly high, when considering 51.4 percent of eligible patients had dialysis and just 6.8 percent of people around age 85 had the procedure.

Life expectancy after initiation of maintenance dialysis in very old patients is severely limited, and older patients, experience high rates of hospitalization and transition have assisted nursing facilities after initiation of treatment.

The findings underscore the importance of dialysis to ensure that treatment decisions uphold the priorities and preferences of individual patients and are grounded in realistic expectations about prognosis and the expected benefits and harms of this treatment.