title: The associations between the family education and mortality of patients on peritoneal dialysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether education level of family members predicts all-cause and cardiovascular death and initial-episode peritonitis in patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 2264 patients on chronic PD were collected from seven centers affiliated with the Socioeconomic Status on the Outcome of Peritoneal Dialysis (SSOP) Study. All demographic, socioeconomic and laboratory data of patients and the education level of all family members were recorded at baseline. Multivariate Cox regression was used to calculate the hazard ratio (HR) of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, and initial-episode peritonitis with adjustments for recognized traditional factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between patients with (n = 1752) and without (n = 512) complete education information. According to the highest education level of patients' family, included 1752 patients were divided into four groups, i.e. elementary or lower (15%), middle (27%), high (24%) and more than high school (34%). The family highest education (using elementary school or lower group as reference, hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval of middle school group, high school group and more than high school group was 0.68[0.48-0.96], 0.64[0.45-0.91], 0.66[0.48-0.91], respectively) rather than their average education level or patients' or spouse's education was significantly associated with the higher mortality. Neither patients' nor family education level did correlate to the risk for cardiovascular death or initial-episode peritonitis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Family members' education level was found to be a novel predictor of PD outcome. Family, as the main source of health care providers, should be paid more attention in our practice.
authors.affiliation: Renal Division, Department of Medicine, Peking University First Hospital, Institute of Nephrology, Peking University, Key Laboratory of Renal Disease, Ministry of Health, Key Laboratory of Renal Disease, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Kai
authors.initials: ZK
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Qing-Feng
authors.initials: QF
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Tong-Ying
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Heilongjiang, China.
authors.forename: Ye-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Kidney Disease Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jiang-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hui-Ping
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Ningxia, China.
authors.forename: Meng-Hua
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Renal Division, Department of Medicine, Peking University First Hospital, Institute of Nephrology, Peking University, Key Laboratory of Renal Disease, Ministry of Health, Key Laboratory of Renal Disease, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Chuan-Ming
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Heilongjiang, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Kidney Disease Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Hui
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Ningxia, China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Renal Division, Department of Medicine, Peking University First Hospital, Institute of Nephrology, Peking University, Key Laboratory of Renal Disease, Ministry of Health, Key Laboratory of Renal Disease, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hai-Yan
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004505:Education, Nonprofessional; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010530:Peritoneal Dialysis / Q000401:mortality*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors