Comparison of patient and technique survival in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) and hemodialysis: a multicenter study

Patient and technique survival were compared in adult patients new to continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) or (primarily) center hemodialysis (HD) in the time period 1981 to 1983, and followed-up in March 1985. Risk factors were identified at entrance into the study, and results were analyzed using Cox's proportional hazards model. For nondiabetic patients, the difference in survival which favored CAPD (relative risk = 0.62) was not significant at the 5% level (p = 0.08). Age was a significant risk factor in both groups. The average number of hospital visits was the same; however, CAPD showed a small but significant increase in average annual hospital days per year (10.14 vs. 9.18). For diabetic patients, there was no significant difference in survival between CAPD and HD. The CAPD group showed a significant increase in hospital visits (relative risk 1.81 vs. 1.40) and average hospital days per year (19.43 vs. 13.41). Both CAPD groups showed significantly higher treatment changeover rates.