Survival Comparison of Adult Non-Diabetic Patients Treated with Either Hemodialysis Or CAPD for End-Stage Renal Failure

The authors studied all adult patients (15 years and over), other than those with primary diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, who were registered in the Canadian Renal Failure Register, and who had begun treatment with either hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis. Survival was calculated only for those on hemodialysis or for those on peritoneal dialysis who changed to or continued on CAPD. The calculations were done for life and technique survival in three age groups. The age groups were: 15–44, 45–64, and 65 and over. In all age groups the survival until death was similar. The technique survival rates were higher in hemodialysis in the 15–44 group, similar in the 45–64 group, and initially lower in CAPD in the 65 and over group.

Previous studies and comparison (I, 2) of patient and technique survival in hemodialysis and CAPD have shown a poor technique survival in CAPD. Age-group analysis in the Australian Registry (2) demonstrated no difference in technique survival in different age groups, but patients over 64 were not studied separately either in Canada or other countries. This group represents 25% of our new patient population (3), and with an aging population their numbers can be expected to increase. Therefore we decided to study this group separately and to compare their technique and life survival results with the different treatment and different age groups.