title: Comparison of baseline data between chronic kidney disease patients starting hemodialysis who live near and far from the dialysis center.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The treatment offered to chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients before starting hemodialysis (HD) impacts prognosis.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We seek differences among incident HD patients according to the distance between home and the dialysis center.
  
  
  METHODS
  We included 179 CKD patients undergoing HD. Patients were stratified in two groups: "living near the dialysis center" (patients whose hometown was in cities up to 100 km from the dialysis center) or as "living far from the dialysis center" (patients whose hometown was more than 100 km from the dialysis center). Socioeconomic status, laboratory results, awareness of CKD before starting HD, consultation with nephrologist before the first HD session, and type of vascular access when starting HD were compared between the two groups. Comparisons of continuous and categorical variables were performed using Student's t-test and the Chi-square test, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ninety (50.3%) patients were classified as "living near the dialysis center" and 89 (49.7%) as "living far from the dialysis center". Patients living near the dialysis center were more likely to know about their condition of CKD than those living far from the dialysis center, respectively 46.6% versus 28.0% (p = 0.015). Although without statistical significance, patients living near the dialysis center had more frequent previous consultation with nephrologists (55.5% versus 42.6%; p = 0.116) and first HD by fistula (30.0% versus 19.1%; p = 0.128) than those living far from the dialysis center.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There are potential advantages of CKD awareness, referral to nephrologists and starting HD through fistula among patients living near the dialysis center.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Ceará.
authors.forename: Paulo Roberto
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Ceará.
authors.forename: Cecília Costa
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Arcanjo
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Ceará.
authors.forename: Sânkia Maria Lopes
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Aragão
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Ceará.
authors.forename: Fernando Lopes
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Ponte Neto
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Ceará.
authors.forename: Antônio Robson Gomes
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Ximenes
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Ceará.
authors.forename: Janaína Teixeira Pereira Carneiro
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Tapeti
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Ceará.
authors.forename: Hyngridd Soares
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Mendes
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Ceará.
authors.forename: Luise Vasconcelos
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Ceará.
authors.forename: Rita de Cássia Parente
authors.initials: Rde C
authors.lastname: Prado
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Ceará.
authors.forename: Marcela Lopes
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Ceará.
authors.forename: Wirvig Dionnas Cassemiro
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Adeodato
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Ceará.
authors.forename: Ivo Antônio Mendes
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: de Menezes
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Ceará.
authors.forename: Mairla Maracaba
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Ceará.
authors.forename: Estevam Nelson Moura
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Ceará.
authors.forename: Thais Costa
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Ehrich
mesh_terms: D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D001938:Brazil; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies