More Than Half of Older Dialysis Recipients Die Within a Year

A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found nearly 55 percent of people older than 65 who start dialysis treatment die within a year, reports United Press International . When a person starts experiencing renal failure, dialysis cleanses their blood of toxins, but while some opt for the procedure as a transition to kidney transplantation, most persons on dialysis never receive a transplant. The researchers analyzed Medicare data from 1994 to 2014 for subjects older than 65. After starting dialysis, nearly 23 percent of subjects died in the first month, and almost 45 percent died within six months. These findings clash with earlier research, many from the U.S. Renal Data Registry, estimating a 30 percent mortality rate for older adults who just began dialysis. The registry only posts numbers for people healthy enough to receive dialysis outside a hospital, but almost 75 percent begin treatment inside of a hospital, and some do not survive to receive outpatient treatment.