Quality of Care in Long-Term Hemodialysis Patients in Mexico

Introduction: The End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) is one of the leading causes of mortality in Mexico. The quality of care these patients receive remains uncertain. Methods: This is a descriptive, single-center and cross-sectional cohort study. The KDOQI performance measures, hemoglobin level >11 g/dL, blood pressure <140/90 mmHg, serum albumin >4 g/dL and use of arteriovenous fistula of patients with ESRD on hemodialysis were analyzed in a period of a year. The association between mortality and the KDOQI objectives was evaluated with a logistic regression model. A linear regression model was also performed with the number of readmissions. Results: A total of 124 participants were included. Participants were categorized by the number of measures completed. Fourteen (11.3%) of the participants did not meet any of the goals, 51 (41.1%) met one, 43 (34.7%) met two, 11 (8.9%) met three, and 5 (4%) met the four clinical goals analyzed. A mortality of 11.2% was registered. In the logistic regression model, the number of goals met had an OR for mortality of 1.1 (95% CI 0.5-2.8). In the linear regression model, for the number of readmissions, a beta correlation with the number of KDOQI goals met was 0.246 (95% CI -0.872-1.365). Conclusion: The attainment of clinical goals and the mortality rate in our center is similar to that reported in the world literature. Our study did not find a significant association between compliance with clinical guidelines and mortality or the number of hospital admissions in CKD patients on hemodialysis.