Journal Watch

  • Impact of Extended HD with a Liberalized Diet on Protein Energy Wasting

    An 8-year longitudinal study assessed BMI and creatinine generation rate for 402 patients who started extended-hours HD (>18 hours/week). Over time, treatment sessions got longer (70% received >21 hours/week). Participants maintained their BMIs and % creatinine generation over time, and the 5-year survival rate was 85%.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2025-02-14)

    Tags: Extended hours Hemodialysis, Liberalized Diet, Longitudinal Study, Protein energy Wasting

  • Home Sweet Home Dialysis

    Home Sweet Home (HSH) is a new Canadian program where current home dialysis patients share their lived experiences with prospective patients in a home-like setting. Of 291 participants between 2015 and 2019, 92% were interested in a home modality, noting that they valued patients’ real-life perspective and felt less anxious. At follow-up, 25% were doing home dialysis, 24% had a transplant, and the remaining survivors were dialyzing in-center.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2025-02-14)

    Tags: Home Dialysis, Home Modality, Patient Education

  • Anxiety, Symptom Burden, and Quality of Life (QOL) on PD

    Survey responses from 305 PD patients measured anxiety levels, symptom burden, and QOL. Participants had an average of 5.9 to 10.5 symptoms that negatively correlated with QOL. Anxiety explained 38.9% of the symptom number and 33.3% of the symptom-related distress.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2025-02-14)

    Tags: Anxiety Levels, Symptom Burden, QOL

  • Psychosocial Concerns May Impact Minority Uptake of PD

    Analysis of qualitative interview data from 113 patients in Bronx, NY who completed dialysis modality education found gaps in the areas of support for the emotional trauma of an ESKD diagnosis and lack of a program to reduce anxiety about PD responsibilities, along with failure to address structural barriers to PD.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2025-02-14)

    Tags: Qualitative Interview Data, Dialysis Modality Education, Patient Support, Emotional Trauma, ESKD

  • Use of Plastic Cannulae for Nocturnal HD Wins Award

    In Singapore, nurses noted that 30% of in-center nocturnal HD patients dropped out due to fear and pain from steel needles—so they switched to plastic cannulae. This change resulted in 85% less anxiety and 63% less fear.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2025-02-14)

    Tags: In center Nocturnal HD, Fear, Pain, Anxiety, Steel Needles, Plastic Cannulae

  • Survival on HD vs. Immediate-start PD

    After reviewing medical records from 911 incident dialysis patients from 2005 to 2023, 140 HD and 140 immediate start PD patients were selected for 1:1 propensity score matching. While long-term survival was comparable between the two modalities, non-diabetic patients had significantly higher survival on immediate start PD than HD.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2025-01-13)

    Tags: HD, Immediate start PD, Survival, Propensity Score

  • Peer Support + Nurse-led Modality Education Increases Patient Choice of PD

    Of 238 patients from 500 outpatient clinics in 2018 to 2020, 112 received both nursing education (NE) and peer support to make an ESKD modality choice. The combination helped patients make informed choices that aligned with their values and preferences.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2025-01-13)

    Tags: Peer Support, Nursing Education, Modality Choice, Modality Education

  • Organizational Culture and Home Dialysis Uptake

    An ethnographic study of dialysis clinic culture was conducted at four clinics in England with average or high rates of home dialysis and maximal geographic, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity. Three themes identified were encouraging the patient voice and providing individualized support, ensuring home dialysis access (minimalizing eligibility assumptions), and achieving sustained change based on benefits for patients.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2025-01-13)

    Tags: Dialysis Clinic Culture, Home Dialysis Access, Patient Benefits

  • Probiotics in PD

    While the gut microbiome can be key to challenges PD patients often face, there have been little specific data on the use of probiotics by PD patients. A review article summarizes current knowledge, explores how interventions could improve PD outcomes, outlines clinical effectiveness data, and suggests future research directions.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2025-01-13)

    Tags: Gut Microbiome, PD Outcomes, Probiotics

  • Advancing American Kidney Health Initiative Did Not Impact Public Awareness

    In 2019, the AAKHI aimed to increase the use of home dialysis. Analysis of U.S. Google Trends data from 2013 to 2021 for home dialysis terms found an increase in searches when the AAKHI was first announced, followed by flat or declining searches. The authors concluded that the AAKHI did not impact public information-seeking and targeted education initiatives may be needed.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2025-01-13)

    Tags: Advancing American Kidney Health Initiative, AAKHI , Public Awareness