title: An epidemiological study of hemodialysis patients based on the European Fresenius Medical Care hemodialysis network: results of the ARO study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  ARO, an observational study of hemodialysis (HD) patients in Europe, aims to enhance our understanding of patient characteristics and practice patterns to improve patient outcome.
  
  
  METHODS
  HD patients (n = 8,963) from 134 Fresenius Medical Care facilities treated between 2005 and 2006 were randomly selected from 9 European countries (Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Slovak Republic and Slovenia) and Turkey. Information was captured on demographics, comorbidities, medications, laboratory and dialysis parameters, and outcome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients were followed for 1.4 ± 0.7 years. Wide variation by country was observed for age, sex and diabetes as a cause of chronic kidney disease. Cardiovascular disease was present in 73% of patients. Dialysis parameters were homogeneous across countries. Arteriovenous fistulas were frequently used (73%). More incident patients had hemoglobin <11 g/dl than prevalent patients (50 vs. 33%, respectively). Phosphatemia and intact parathyroid hormone were similar between incident and prevalent patients (4.7 ± 1.2 mg/dl and 190 vs. 213 ng/l, respectively). Medication use varied widely by country. In total, 5% of patients underwent renal transplantation. Overall death rate was 124/1,000 patient-years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ARO revealed differences in HD practice patterns and patient characteristics in the 10 participating countries. Future ARO studies will fill gaps in the knowledge about the care of European HD patients.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Nefrologia, Hospital Universitario Valdecilla, Santander, Spain. martinal@unican.es
authors.forename: Angel L M
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: de Francisco
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Stefan D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Anker
authors.forename: Vasily
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Belozeroff
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Canaud
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chazot
authors.forename: Tilman B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Drüeke
authors.forename: Kai-Uwe
authors.initials: KU
authors.lastname: Eckardt
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Floege
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kronenberg
authors.forename: Iain C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Macdougall
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marcelli
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Molemans
authors.forename: Jutta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Passlick-Deetjen
authors.forename: Guntram
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schernthaner
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stenvinkel
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Wheeler
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fouqueray
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Aljama
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000639:trends; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D051436:Renal Insufficiency, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome