Study Indicates Large Number of Patients Prefer 'Home' Dialysis Therapies
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — WellBound, a company that combines focused educational programs with self-care (home) dialysis therapies to improve the lives of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients, announced results of a study supporting increased adoption of self-care dialysis therapies. Study findings showed that when provided with early dialysis options education, a large number of patients chose a home-based therapy over traditional in-center hemodialysis. These findings were presented at the Annual Dialysis Conference in San Francisco.
"WellBound has long championed the belief that when properly educated and given a treatment choice, a large number of patients will select the clinical, quality of life and convenience benefits associated with self-care therapies," said John Moran, M.D., WellBound's chief medical officer and a leading expert on self-care dialysis. "We are excited to now have compelling data to support this position."
As part of this study, WellBound analyzed the dialysis therapy selections of 576 patients after they received early education on all available treatment options, including conventional in-center hemodialysis (HD), peritoneal dialysis (either CAPD or CCPD), renal transplant and various home hemodialysis regimens. Results showed that 42 percent of these patients selected a self-care (home) therapy. Of 206 patients who completed training, 164 (80 percent) chose peritoneal dialysis and 42 (20 percent) home hemodialysis. Nationally, only 7 percent of all new dialysis patients select home dialysis as their therapy choice.
In a separate study presented at the Annual Dialysis Conference, WellBound researchers showed that CKD patients undergoing short daily home hemodialysis, an innovative self-care therapy, experienced improved quality of life and reduced need for antihypertensive drugs after transferring from other dialysis therapies.
The term self-care dialysis refers to those dialysis therapies that patients are able to self-administer outside the confines of hemodialysis centers, including peritoneal dialysis and all types of home hemodialysis. A growing collection of clinical research clearly demonstrates that the more frequent, more consistent dialysis associated with self-care provides patients with improved health outcomes such as improved mortality rates and reduced hospitalizations. Home dialysis also offers significant quality of life advantages including greater convenience, more flexible schedules, and fewer fluid and dietary restrictions.
For more information about WellBound, visit www.wellbound.com.
This article originally appeared in the March 2006 issue of HME Business.