Clinical outcome of elderly peritoneal dialysis patients with assisted care in a single medical centre: A 25 year experience

Aim Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is an alternative treatment for elderly patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). In Taiwan, non-professional personnel are employed to provide assisted care for elderly patients. Whether assisted care is appropriate for elderly patients is unknown. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the outcomes of assisted care in a single centre. Methods This is a retrospective cohort study in a single medical centre. The outcomes were derived from the assessment of patient survival, technique survival and peritonitis incidence between self-care patients and assisted-care patients. Results From 1984 to 2010, there were 138 elderly PD patients at Taichung Veterans General Hospital, of which 70% were assisted-care patients and 30% self-care patients. The mean duration of PD survival was 49.2 months in self-care patients, which was significantly longer than the 17.0 months of assisted-care patients (P