title: Complications observed in older new haemodialysis patients in Taiwan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to evaluate the impacts of heomodialysis (HD) in older patients, and potential consequences of adverse events for health insurance costs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred and fifty-five new patients (130 were younger than 65 years and 125 were older than 65 years) who had received conventional HD for at least 1 year were reviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Older patients had significantly more arteriovenous (AV) shunt failures (0.7 ± 0.1 vs 0.4 ± 0.07, P = 0.006) and hospitalisations (0.8 ± 0.1 vs 0.4 ± 0.09, P = 0.03) than younger ones. Stepwise multivariate linear regression analysis showed that AV shunt failure was an independent risk factor for hospitalisation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The relatively high risk of AV shunt failures and hospitalisation in older patients highlights the additional expenditure on HD required in terms of health insurance.
authors: Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taitung Branch, Taitung, Taiwan.
authors: Feng-Chi
authors: FC
authors: Kuo
authors: Chin-Ling
authors: CL
authors: Chiang
authors: Shih-Yi
authors: SY
authors: Lee
authors: Chih-Jen
authors: CJ
authors: Wu
authors: Han-Hsiang
authors: HH
authors: Chen
authors: Yu-Wei
authors: YW
authors: Chen
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D001166:Arteriovenous Shunt, Surgical / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000191:economics; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000191:economics; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000191:economics; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013624:Taiwan; D017211:Treatment Failure
keywords: arteriovenous access failure; haemodialysis; health insurance; hospitalisation; older people