SURVIVAL IN LONG-TERM HEMODIALYSIS-PATIENTS - RESULTS FROM THE ANNUALSURVEY OF THE JAPANESE-SOCIETY-FOR-DIALYSIS-THERAPY

The prognosis for haemodialysis patients is reported to be more favour able in Japan than in Europe or North America. Consequently, evaluatio n of the death predictors for haemodialysis patients in Japan is of co nsiderable interest outside Japan. The Patient Registration Committee of the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy annually surveys the indi vidual patient case mix, laboratory data and important events occurrin g in the previous years. Thus, using case mix data and laboratory data (including Kt/V and protein catabolic rate) from the 1993 questionnai re survey and the individual patients' life/death statistics from the 1994 questionnaire survey, a logistic regression analysis was conducte d on 53 867 patients. The analysis indicated that important death risk predictors were: (i) advanced age, (ii) occurrence of diabetes mellit us, (iii) male sex, (iv) Kt/V lower than 1.8, (v) duration of haemodia lysis sessions less than 5 h, (vi) protein catabolic rate less than 0. 9 g/kg/day, and (vii) percentage body weight decrease less than 4% and more than 8% during the first haemodialysis session of the week.