One-year mortality rates in US children with end-stage renal disease

Few published data describe survival rates for pediatric end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. We aimed to describe one-year mortality rates for US pediatric ESRD patients over a 15-year period.

In this retrospective cohort study, we used the US Renal Data System database to identify period-prevalent cohorts of patients aged younger than 19 for each year during the period 1995-2010. Yearly cohorts averaged approximately 1,200 maintenance dialysis patients (60% hemodialysis, 40% peritoneal dialysis) and 1,100 transplant recipients. Patients were followed for up to 1 year and censored at change in modality, loss to follow-up, or death. We calculated the unadjusted model-based mortality rates per time at risk, within each cohort year, by treatment modality (hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, transplant) and patient characteristics; percentage of deaths by cause; and overall adjusted odds of mortality by characteristics and modality.

Approximately 50% of patients were in the age group 15-18, 55% were male, and 45% were female. The most common causes of ESRD were congenital/reflux/obstructive causes (55%) and glomerulonephritis (30%). One-year mortality rates showed evidence of a decrease in the number of peritoneal dialysis patients (6.03 per 100 patient-years, 1995; 2.43, 2010; p = 0.0263). Mortality rates for transplant recipients (average 0.68 per 100 patient-years) were consistently lower than the rates for all dialysis patients (average 4.36 per 100 patient-years).

One-year mortality rates differ by treatment modality in pediatric ESRD patients.