Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) argue against the limited use of peritoneal dialysis in end-stage renal disease
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Aim: Approximately 40% of dialysis patients are durably treated with peritoneal dialysis (PD) in our teaching hospital. Patients' perspectives were studied by patient-reported outcome measurements (PROMs) to find possible explanations for why the generally-reported decline in the use of PD hardly occurred in our facility. Materials and methods: All 75 prevalent adult dialysis patients hemodialysis (HD) duration 27, PD 16 months) were included. All had received predialysis care and education for > 6 month. Cross-sectional sociodemographic and clinical data, SF-36, KDQOL-SF, and predialysis anxiety/depression scores were collected in February 2016. Differences in PROMs between PD and HD patients were analyzed. Results: Despite more comorbidity in the PD population, generally-used dialysis parameters were adequate and similar between HD (n = 42) and PD (n = 33) patients as was annual mortality. Many factors associated with a predialysis modality choice for PD were absent. A higher anxiety/depression score was found in pre-HD compared to pre-PD patients. PROMs were returned by 97%. PD patients performed better on a number of PROMs than their HD counterparts. Conclusion: This single-center cross-section with a modest number of patients but an almost 100% patient response shows that having 40% of patients on PD is possible with excellent results in terms of patient-reported outcomes. A structured patient education with attention to personal needs of patients, an adequate infrastructure for PD, and a dedicated team with ongoing patient support are key factors. Sharing best practices may help to slow down or even reverse the decline of PD, which is a pity both for patients and society.