Seminars in Nephrology
Volume 29, Issue 5 , Pages 524-532, September 2009

Economic Evaluation of Dialysis Therapies

  • Scott Klarenbach, MD, MSc

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
    • Institute of Health Economics, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress reprint requests to Scott Klarenbach, MD, MSc, Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, University of Alberta, 11-107 Clinical Sciences Building, 8440-112 St, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2G3 Canada
  • ,
  • Braden Manns, MD, MSc

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Health Economics, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
    • Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
    • Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

Summary 

The prevalence of end-stage renal disease continues to increase globally, and most patients are treated with dialysis. Despite technological advances in dialysis care, the relatively high costs of providing dialysis have not decreased substantially over the past 4 decades. These 2 factors are a significant concern in this era of fiscal restraint and finite health care budgets. Economic evaluation of dialysis treatment consistently has shown that home-based hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis are less costly than in-center hemodialysis. Although only a portion of patients may be eligible for this therapy, current use in Canada and the United States suggests that significantly more patients could be treated with these therapies, which would result in significant cost savings without compromising patient outcomes. There is some evidence to suggest that the modality of home nocturnal dialysis may offer improvements in clinical outcomes including quality of life, but further study of the cost effectiveness of this modality is required.

Keywords: Chronic kidney failure, health care economics, renal replacement therapy, health care costs

To access this article, please choose from the options below

Login to an existing account or Register a new account.

  • Purchase this article for 31.50 USD (You must login/register to purchase this article)

    Online access for 24 hours. The PDF version can be downloaded as your permanent record.

  • Subscribe to this title

    Get unlimited online access to this article and all other articles in this title 24/7 for one year.

  • Claim access now

    For current subscribers with Society Membership or Account Number.

  • Visit SciVerse ScienceDirect to see if you have access via your institution.
 

 Supported by a Scholarship Award from the Kidney Foundation of Canada, and a Population Health Investigator Award from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (S.K.); and supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator Award (B.M.).

PII: S0270-9295(09)00104-1

doi:10.1016/j.semnephrol.2009.06.009

Seminars in Nephrology
Volume 29, Issue 5 , Pages 524-532, September 2009