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In Türkiye, one out of every 7 people has kidney disease and the number of patients receiving Kidney Replacement Therapy (KRT) is increasing. The thoughts of Kidney Healthcare Providers (KHPs) have a significant role in the decision-making process in the patient's choice of dialysis modality. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the thoughts and attitudes of KHPs in Türkiye about dialysis modality.
An online survey was prepared to investigate the demographic characteristics of KHPs and the variables influencing modality recommendations. The prepared survey was distributed to KHPs in every region of Türkiye between March 15 and June 15, 2023. The distribution of the data was analyzed by the Shapiro-Wilk and Pearson Chi-square test.
102 physicians and 42 nurses completed the survey (F82, M62, mean age 45+/- 8,6 years). The current patients of the respondents are predominantly treated with In-Center Hemodialysis (90.3%) and a lower percentage (9.7%) with Peritoneal Dialysis. According to the participants, the major role in the decision of dialysis modality belongs to the nephrologist (54.9%) (Figure 1). The preference for referring patients to in-center hemodialysis was no caregiver (76.4%), low socioeconomic status (69%), more than one chronic disease (57.6%), and low education level (56.3%) (Figure 2). In the question "If you needed dialysis modality, which method would you prefer?", the participants answered, "Home hemodialysis" (45.8%), "Peritoneal dialysis" (43.8%), and "In-center hemodialysis" (10.4%). 66.8% of the respondents believe that they have insufficient knowledge about home hemodialysis.
The results indicate that the KHPs preference for Home hemodialysis, although most of their patients are treated with In-Center hemodialysis. Most KHPs consider themselves incompetent in home hemodialysis. Education, training and new regulations regarding dialysis modalities are needed.