Globally, the number of elderly persons with stage 5 chronic kidney disease (CKD) is rising. It's still unclear whether dialysis will benefit geriatric patients with advanced CKD. The decision to start dialysis or to follow a non-dialysis treatment plan is complex and difficult. This study aims to investigate how modality selection affects geriatric patient survival and to explore the associated risk factors. The pre-dialysis clinic database was used to identify geriatric patients (age > 65 years) with an eGFR of 15 mls/min/1.73m2 who were followed up in the nephrology clinic from January 1 to December 31 2016. Demographics, comorbidities, dialysis modality, clinical outcome, and laboratory data were obtained from hospital electronic medical reports. Patients were then followed up till 31stDecember 2018. Survival was calculated from the time when eGFR was <15 mls/min/1.73m2 until death or the end of the study. A total of 97 patients were identified during this study period. Sixty-one (62.9%) patients opted for long term dialysis (LTD) whilst the remaining 37.1% (n=36) opted for non-dialysis (ND) pathway. Patients in the ND group were older with median(IQR) age of 74.5(8) years compared to LTD patients with median age of 70.0(6) (P<0.001). One and two-year survival rates were 67.2% and 62.2% in the LTD group and 66.7% and 60.7% in the ND (p =0.815). Further analysis of patients who chose LTD found that 47.5% (n=29) started dialysis in a timely manner, with mean eGFR of 7.4ml/min/1.73m2, while 52.4% (n=32) crashed-landed with mean eGFR of 5.9ml/min/1.73m2. Patients who crash-landed had the lowest survival rate when compared to patients who started dialysis in a timely manner and those who chose the ND course, as shown in the table below. Mean time of decline in eGFR 15mls/min/ 1.73m2to death or study end was 22.5±12.7 months for those on LTD and 20.8±11.9 months for those managed conservatively (P=0.303). Comorbidities and age did not have a significant impact on survival. Tabled 1No. of patientsNo. of events1 Year Survival %2 Years Survival %P-valueLTD with timelyinitiated dialysis29589.786.10.002LTD butcrash-landed321946.940.6Non-dialysis treatment361566.760.7 Open table in a new tab In this study, geriatric patients who chose dialysis had similar survival to those who chose non-dialysis treatment. If opted for long-term dialysis treatment, it must be started in a timely manner to maximize the survival advantage as crash-lander had the lowest survival rate.
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