Insufficient documentation of the hemodialysis prescription: delaying the definition of adequate dialysis.

We analyzed 953 articles published in three established nephrology journals to select those pertaining to treatment with hemodialysis. A total of 152 papers were selected on the criteria that the reported results might have been affected by variation in the dialysis prescription. Only a small proportion of the papers studied (11.8%) detailed the complete dialysis prescription including type of dialyzer, blood flow rate, and duration and frequency of dialysis. A surprising 29% of papers provided no details of the dialyzer employed. Other potentially important variables such as the type of blood tubing or method of water treatment used were rarely mentioned. Comparative studies of the course and outcome of hemodialysis regimens require specification of exactly how dialysis was performed. It is suggested that manuscripts provide this information as a condition of suitability for publication.