Determinants of training and technique failure in home hemodialysis

Home hemodialysis (HHD) has clinical and economic advantages compared with in-center conventional hemodialysis. Many health systems wish to broaden the population to which this modality can be successfully offered. However, determinants of successful HHD training and technique survival are unknown. We hypothesize that both medical and social factors play a role when patients fail to successfully adopt HHD. We examined characteristics of consecutive patients who initiated training for HHD between 2003 and 2011. Patients were classified as "failure" if they failed to complete HHD training or experienced technique failure (TF) within the first year of treatment. Remaining patients were classified as "success." One hundred seventy-seven patients initiated HHD training. In the "failure" group (n = 32), 24 did not finish training and 8 had TF. In the "success" group (n = 145), 65 (45%) patients remained on NHD, 49 (34%) discontinued HHD because of renal transplantation and 21 (14%) because of death, while only 10 (7%) eventually transferred to another dialysis modality. In a multivariable logistic regression analysis, the strongest predictors of "failure" were end-stage renal disease because of diabetes (odds ratio [OR] 3.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.4-10.3, P = 0.008) and use of rental housing (OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.3-6.0, P = 0.01). Both medical and social factors are associated with failure to adopt HHD. Enhanced supports or a customized education strategy for these vulnerable patients should be considered.