Outcomes among patients receiving in-center, self-care hemodialysis.

Modalities of renal replacement therapy are categorized into incenter hemodialysis and home therapies. A subset of hemodialysis patients referred to as in-center self-care hemodialysis (ICSCHD) receive patient training as if they were going home but instead perform their dialysis in-center with minimal staff support. Preliminary data suggests ICSCHD is associated with better outcomes than traditional in-center hemodialysis. We looked at ICSCHD patients initiating maintenance dialysis from April 1, 2011 to March 30, 2014 and compared them at a 1:2 ratio to propensity-score matched controls from surrounding facilities within the same catchment area. The median follow-up was 14 months. Patients on ICSCHD had lower mortality rate (0.02 vs 0.07 per patient year; p <0.05), fewer hospitalization events (0.82 vs. 1.70 per patient year; p = 0.008) and fewer missed treatments (1.1% vs 3.8% of all treatments; p = 0.005) than matched controls. We concluded that patients on ICSCHD had lower mortality rates and fewer hospital days than well-matched controls and spent more time on dialysis and missed fewer treatments. Establishing a facility-wide.

Lessons learned--one facility's experience with venturing into the home hemodialysis market.

The home hemodialysis program team at Community/ Physicians Dialysis Center Fairborn began training their first patient in October 2004. They now have six home patients dialyzing using either daily nocturnal or short daily home hemodialysis. Improved patient outcomes, including excellent morbidity/mortality figures, are hallmarks of the success of the. program. In addition, all home patients have seen moderate to large improvements in quality of life since starting to dialyze at home. This article describes the details involved with developing the program, and what was learned along the way. It is the hope of this author that others will be encouraged by this story, and embrace the challenge of providing this exciting modality option to the patients they serve.

Effects on caregiver burden of education related to home care in patients undergoing hemodialysis.

Caring for a patient undergoing hemodialysis is highly stressful and can negatively affect a caregiver's physical and psychological well-being. This study was conducted to examine the effect of educational support concerning caregiver burden and given to the caregivers of hemodialysis patients. This experimental study was performed with 122 caregivers. Patients' data were collected by means of Personal Information Form and Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale (ZCBS). Characteristics of caregivers of hemodialysis patients were analyzed descriptively in terms of frequencies and percentages for categorical data, means, and standard deviations. Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskall-Wallis test, and percentages were used in the data analysis. The mean ZCBS score was 52.1 ± 8.6 (range, 0-88). Among the caregivers, the mean score of the ZCBS was significantly higher in women, single, young, family relatives as "daughter/sister/brother/daughter-in-law and town/district, high educational level (P < 0.05). Moreover, the mean score of the ZCBS was significantly higher in caregivers who have health problems/diseases. In addition, this study explored the educational needs of home-based such as nutrition (35.2%), dialysis (27.8%), fistula care (20.4%), catheter care (18.8%), the information about chronic kidney disease (18.0%), blood pressure (17.2%), weight control (17.2%), hygiene (3.1%), and travel/exercise (6.5%). The post-educational mean scores (55.0 ± 7.6) of caregiver burden were observed to be lower than the pre-educational scores (43.9 ± 5.2), and the difference was found to be statistically significant. The home-based educational program demonstrated a decrease in the burden of hemodialysis caregivers.

Current international status of home hemodialysis.

Three times weekly home hemodialysis (HHD) was introduced shortly after the initiation of chronic hemodialysis (HD) treatment in 1960. HHD eliminates the need of transportation to and from the dialysis unit and by allowing patients to set their own dialysis schedule, decreases the burden of treatment on their personal and professional lives. HHD has been found more economical and more highly associated with better patient survival than in-center dialysis. Nevertheless, the global prevalence of HHD decreased between 1980 and 2000 due to the increased availability of dialysis units and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, advances in cadaveric kidney transplantation, and several other factors. However, the availability of HHD at a frequency of more than 3 times/week, the typical frequency of conventional HD (CHD), in such forms as brief HD sessions of 2-3 h 5-6 days/week and nocturnal HD (NHD) has led to reversals in this trend. Frequent HHD, such as short daily HD (SDHD) and NHD instead of 3 times/week CHD, has been found to significantly improve hypertension, left ventricular mass, renal anemia, quality of life and mortality. On the other hand, NHD has been found to significantly improve hypertension, left ventricular mass, renal anemia, quality of life, malnutrition, mortality and phosphate clearance. Many observational clinical studies and one randomized controlled trial of SDHD and/or NHD have been conducted, and compact and convenient dialysis machines have been developed and used for HHD. The most recent data reported in the national and local registries of selected countries indicate that the prevalence of HHD among all dialysis patients from 2008 to 2010 varied from 0 to 3.3% except in New Zealand and Australia, where it was 16.3 and 9.3%, respectively. As HHD appears to be a more effective and economical dialysis modality than in-center CHD, its prevalence is likely to increase in the future.

Dialysis facility and patient characteristics associated with utilization of home dialysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Nonmedical factors influencing utilization of home dialysis at the facility level are poorly quantified. Home dialysis is comparably effective and safe but less expensive to society and Medicare than in-center hemodialysis. Elimination of modifiable practice variation unrelated to medical factors could contribute to improvements in patient outcomes and use of scarce resources. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: Prevalent dialysis patient data by facility were collected from the 2007 ESRD Network's annual reports. Facility characteristic data were collected from Medicare's Dialysis Facility Compare file. A multivariate regression model was used to evaluate associations between the use of home dialysis and facility characteristics. RESULTS: The utilization of home dialysis was positively associated with facility size, percent patients employed full- or part-time, younger population, and years a facility was Medicare certified. Variables negatively associated include an increased number of hemodialysis patients per hemodialysis station, chain association, rural location, more densely populated zip code, a late dialysis work shift, and greater percent of black patients within a zip code. CONCLUSIONS: Improved understanding of factors affecting the frequency of use of home dialysis may help explain practice variations across the United States that result in an imbalanced use of medical resources within the ESRD population. In turn, this may improve the delivery of healthcare and extend the ability of an increasingly overburdened medical financing system to survive.

Dificuldades vivenciadas pela família e pela criança/adolescente com doença renal crônica / Difficulties experienced by children/adolescents with chronic renal disease and by their families

Este artigo enfoca um dos objetivos de um estudo mais amplo sobre a realização de diálise peritoneal (DP) em crianças e adolescentes no domicílio. Descreve e discute os relatos dos cuidadores sobre as reações e dificuldades vivenciadas pela família e pela criança/adolescente com doença renal crônica (DRC) para a realização da DP. Método: Realizou-se no período de março de 2004 a maio de 2006 estudo descritivo constituído de um universo de 30 crianças e adolescentes portadores de DRC, assistidos pelo HC/UFMG, abordando questões relativas às dificuldades dos cuidadores quanto à aplicação da técnica de DP e as queixas das crianças/ adolescentes quanto à DP por meio de entrevista, acompanhamento de consulta de rotina e visita domiciliar. Resultados: As principais queixas foram: limitações que a diálise peritoneal em si. Conclusão: O conhecimento da realidade vivenciada pela criança/adolescente com DRC e pela família pode subsidiar ações e medidas a fim de melhorar a qualidade de vida dos envolvidos e contribuir para o sucesso da técnica dialítica.

This article focuses on one of the goals of a larger study on the performance of peritoneal dialysis (PD) in children and adolescents at home. Describes and discusses reports on the reactions of caregivers and difficulties experienced by family and child / adolescent with chronic kidney disease (CKD) for the realization of DP. Method: We conducted from March 2004 to May 2006 descriptive study consisting of a universe of 30 children and adolescents with CKD, assisted by the HC / UFMG, addressing issues relating to caregivers' difficulties in applying the technique of PD and complaints from children and adolescents with PD as through interviews, follow-up consultation and routine visits. Results: The main complaints were limitations that peritoneal dialysis itself. Conclusion: The knowledge of the reality experienced by children / adolescents with CKD and the family can support actions and measures to improve the quality of life of those involved and contribute to the success of the technique of dialysis.

Self-care and home dialysis-role of social work.

Social work intervention in Self-Care involves evaluation, preparation, crisis-intervention and ongoing assessment and support. Early introduction of this modality is considered vital and factors of age, education, socio-economic level, sensory and environmental conditions are considered in the evaluation process. The social work relationship with patients is described within the context of family and community supports. Experience has demonstrated that patients with pre-existing adaptation problems may require more concentrated social work counseling. The goals of independence and rehabilitation are shown to be effected by patient motivation and economic restrictions. The social worker participating in the team approach is described as contributing to the patients opportunity for self-determination through patient advocacy, supportive services and social action. Self-Care patients are considered as having high potential for achievement and satisfaction.