Current trends in hospice care usage for dialysis patients in the USA

The predictors and latest trends in hospice utilization, adequate duration of hospice care, and dialysis discontinuation without hospice enrollment among patients with end stage kidney disease are not fully known; the aim of this study was to assess them, analysing data from the United States Renal Data System.

Data from the United States Renal Data System for patients with kidney failure who died between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2019, were analyzed. Chi-square and logistic regression were used to evaluate associations between outcomes of interest and predictors, while Joinpoint regression was used to examine trends.

Among 803,049 patients, the median (IQR) age was 71 (17) years, 57% were male, 27% enrolled in hospice, 8% discontinued dialysis before death without hospice enrollment, and 7% remained in hospice for ≥ 15 days. Patients 65 years and older (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 2.75, 95% CI 2.71-2.79) and White race (aOR: 1.79, 95% CI 1.77-1.81) were more likely to enroll in hospice. White patients (aOR: 0.75, 95% CI 0.73-0.76) and those who never received a kidney transplant (aOR: 0.75, 95% CI 0.73-0.78) were less likely to have adequate duration of hospice care. Hospice enrollment and standardized duration of hospice care increased over time, with an average annual percentage change of 1.1% (95% CI 0.6-1.6) and 5% (95% CI 2.6-7.4), respectively.

Approximately one in every four patients with kidney failure who died between 2012 and 2019 had a history of hospice enrollment, while one in every 12 discontinued dialysis before death without hospice enrollment. There was an upward trend in the duration of hospice care.