An overview of dialysis treatment in Japan (as of Dec. 31, 2006)

Abstract

A statistical survey of dialysis patients for the year 2006 was carried out for 4,051 facilities in Japan, and responses were obtained from 3,985 (98.37%) facilities. The number of dialysis patients in Japan at the end of 2006 was 264,473, and this number was an increase of 6,708 (2.6%) compared with that at the end of 2005. The number of dialysis patients per one million population is 2,069.9. The gross mortality rate from the end of 2005 to the end of 2006 was 9.2%. The average dialysis starting age was 66.4 years; the average age of all the dialysis patients was 64.4 years. The primary diseases underlying the need for dialysis include diabetic renal disease (42.9%) and chronic glomerulonephritis (25.6%). At 2,873 facilities (82.4%) out of the 3,488 facilities that participated in the survey on the water quality conditions of dialysate, the endotoxin concentration in the dialysate was measured. One thousand one hundred ninety-seven facilities (37.1%) out of 3,228 measured the bacterial count in the dialysate. The average hemoglobin concentration in the dialysis patients at the end of 2006 was 10.23 (±1.33) gd/L, which agreed well with that (10.23 (±1.37) gd/L) obtained at the end of 2005. The initial average concentration of serum creatinine in 15,853 patients who started dialysis between the end of 2005 and the end of 2006 was 8.37 (±3.58) mg/dL. The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), which was obtained by multiplying the Japanese factor (?) with the value obtained using the modification of diet in renal disease (MDRD) formula, was 5.46 (±6.60 mL/min/1.73m²).