Peritoneal or hemodialysis for the frail elderly patient, the choice of 2 evils?

Management of older people on dialysis requires focus on the wider aspects of aging as well as dialysis. Almost all frail and older patients receiving dialysis will default to in-center hemodialysis, although the availability of assisted peritoneal dialysis enables dialysis at home. As with any disease management decision, patients approaching end-stage renal disease need all the appropriate facts about their prognosis, the natural history of their disease without dialysis, and the resulting outcomes and complications of the different dialysis modalities.

Quality of Life and Physical Function in Older Patients on Dialysis: A Comparison of Assisted Peritoneal Dialysis with Hemodialysis.

Background And Objectives: In-center hemodialysis (HD) is often the default dialysis modality for older patients. Few centers use assisted peritoneal dialysis (PD), which enables treatment at home. This observational study compared quality of life (QoL) and physical function between older patients on assisted PD and HD.