Monitoring chronic hemodialysis patients: a questionnaire-based survey.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The monitoring program for patients on regular hemodialysis treatment (RDT) is not well defined yet by current international guidelines (CIG). METHODS: To evaluate the extent to which CIG are implemented, we sent a questionnaire to 100 Italian hemodialysis units (DU) with questions concerning (a) the frequency with which routine tests were performed for the follow-up of patients on RDT; (b) which other non-routine tests were performed. We analyzed the response data and compared them with the CIG. RESULTS: We received 37 replies. We found several differences between the monitoring program of our respondents and the CIG. CONCLUSION: Because of the small number of responses, this survey is only preliminary; however, it shows the difficulty nephrologists have in using the CIG to create a correct monitoring program in patients on RDT. Although our analysis is limited to 37 DUs, it suggests that specific guidelines are necessary to optimize the management of patients on RDT.