The highest mortality rate is within the first 6 months of initiating dialysis. Mortality then tends to improve over the next 6 months, before increasing gradually over the next 4 years. The 5-year survival rate for a patient undergoing long-term dialysis in the United States is approximately 35%, and approximately 25% in patients with diabetes, according to Medscape.
A study by Sens found that the risk of mortality was elevated in patients with ESRD and congestive heart failure who received peritoneal dialysis compared with those who received hemodialysis. Median survival time was 20.4 months in patients receiving peritoneal dialysis versus 36.7 months in the hemodialysis group.
At every age, patients with ESRD on dialysis have significantly increased mortality when compared with nondialysis patients and individuals without kidney disease. At age 60 years, a healthy person can expect to live for more than 20 years, whereas the life expectancy of a patient aged 60 years who is starting hemodialysis is closer to 4 years. Among patients aged 65 years or older who have ESRD, mortality rates are 6 times higher than in the general population.
To illustrate, the American Association of Kidney Patients noted, a healthy 65-year-old man in the general population can expect about 17 years of life in the absence of kidney failure but will live for only 3.6 years on dialysis. A kidney transplant would permit that same man 12 years of life.
80- to 85-year-olds on dialysis live 2.5 years on average, compared to 6.7 years; and. Patients on dialysis ages 85 and up live two years on average, compared to 3.5 years for their healthy peers.
According to the National Kidney Foundation, the average life expectancy for a patient on dialysis is 5-10 years. Though for someone between the ages of 70 and 74, life expectancy is closer to four years on dialysis.
The findings suggest that conservative care may be a reasonable option for some kidney failure patients over 80. The researchers don't say that dialysis treatment should not be given to anybody older than 80 or with severe co-occurring conditions, according to WebMD.
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