Annual Dialysis Data Report 2014, JSDT Renal Data Registry (JRDR)

Background: The Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy (JSDT) has performed a nationwide renal data registry since 1966. The data from the survey have been used for promoting dialysis facilities to improve dialysis quality and developing JSDT guidelines. Here, we summarized the current status of chronic dialysis in Japan as of 31 December 2014. Methods: The annual survey was conducted targeting for 4367 dialysis facilities by electrically and partially paper-based; among which, 4330 (99.2%) responded. The results shown in this report are all descriptive, and no statistical analyses were conducted. Results: The number of the incident dialysis patients was 38,327 and that of the prevalent dialysis patients was 320,448 in 2014. The count of prevalent dialysis patients per million population was 2517. The count of dialysis patients who died in 2014 was 30,707, and the crude mortality rate was 9.6%. The mean age of incident dialysis patients was 69.04 years, and the mean age of the prevalent dialysis patients was 67.54 years. The most common primary cause on the incident and prevalent dialysis patients was diabetic nephropathy. The patient count on hemodiafiltration (HDF) at the end of 2014 was 43,283; in particular, the number of online HDF patients increased more than 2.5 times over the last 3 years. The facility survey showed that 9255 patients were on peritoneal dialysis (PD) in 2014. Among them, 1913 patients were treated by the combination of PD and hemodialysis (HD) or HDF. The number of patients treated by home HD at the end of 2014 was 529, a continued increase from that at the end of 2013 as 461. Conclusions: The chronic dialysis population in Japan has been still increasing and becoming older year by year. The rapidly increasing number of online hemodiafiltration is an emerging trend but the penetration rate of home therapies by peritoneal dialysis and home hemodialysis was still the lowest in the world. Trial registration: UMIN000018641.