DIALYSIS AT HOME IN THE WEST OF SCOTLAND - A COMPARISON OF HEMODIALYSIS AND CONTINUOUS AMBULATORY PERITONEAL-DIALYSIS IN AGE-MATCHED AND SEX-MATCHED CONTROLS

Objective: To audit the outcome of patients treated at home by hemodialysis and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Design: Retrospective comparison of nondiabetic hemodialysis patients with age- and sex-matched nondiabetic patients treated by CAPD. Setting: Renal Units, Stobhill General Hospital and Western Infirmary, Glasgow, providing the home dialysis service for the West of Scotland. Patients: Between 1982 and 1988, 139 hemodialysis patients starting treatment at home, compared with 139 matched patients starting CAPD over the same time period. Main Outcome Measures: Patient characteristics and cardiovascular risk factors at the start of home treatment. Patient and technique survival with both forms of dialysis. Results: Patients selected for home hemodialysis were less likely to be smokers (p<0.02) and to have electrocardiographic evidence of ischemia or left ventricular hypertrophy (p<0.05) than patients treated by CAPD. Patient survival and technique survival (excluding death and renal transplantation) at 3 years were 93.8% versus 86.2% (p<0.05) and 94.2% versus 80.8% (p<0.04) for hemodialysis and CAPD, respectively. Cardiovascular events were responsible for the majority of deaths in both groups, but there was a greater proportion of deaths from other causes in patients treated by CAPD. There was no significant difference in the transplantation rate between the two treatment groups. Conclusions: Home dialysis is an effective method of renal replacement treatment for patients with end-stage renal disease. The results of hemodialysis are superior to CAPD, but this may be partly due to selection bias.