Gender difference in the mean age at the induction of hemodialysis in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease

Male patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) begin hemodialysis earlier than female patients. The rate of progression of many other renal diseases is also faster in men than women. In this study, gender difference in ADPKD was compared with that in other diseases, such as chronic glomerulonephritis, diabetic nephrophathy, and nephrosclerosis, using the data obtained from an annual statistic survey of the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy. The make-female ratio in ADPKD (n = 8, 176) was 1.17:1 and closer to 1.0:1 than the other diseases. Men with ADPKD started hemodialysis therapy 1.3 years earlier than women (male age, 55.9 ± 12.4 years versus female age, 57.2 ± 11.5 years), and the age difference was less than that in other diseases. These results suggest that the prognosis in women with ADPKD is relatively worse than that in men with ADKPD or that women are not well protected against the progression of this disease compared to other renal disease. In conclusion, men with ADKPD are introduced to hemodialysis therapy earlier than women; however, the age difference was small compared with other common renal diseases.