The Current State of Chronic Dialysis Treatment in Japan (as of December 31, 2000)

The annual statistical survey conducted at the end of 2000 by the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy collected responses from 3, 358 (99.94%) of 3, 360 institutions. Japan's total dialysis patient population at the end of the year 2000, as identified by this survey, was 206, 134, an increase of 8, 921 (4.5%) over 1999. This translates to 1, 624.1 patients per million population. The annual crude mortality rate was 9.4% for the period starting at the end of the year 1999 and ending at the end of the year 2000. The mean patient age at the initiation of dialysis treatment was 63.8 (±13.9; ±S. D.) years; the mean age of the overall dialysis patient population was 61.2 years (±13.3). Both these mean ages, which had been increasing since 1983, again continued to increase. Among the primary diagnosis, the prevalence of diabetic nephropathy had continued to increase again since 1999, to 36.6%, whereas that of chronic glomerulonephritis had continued to decline, down to 32.5%, during the same one-year period since the 1999 survey. The 2000 year-end survey incorporated the following additional variables for the first time: usage of oral anti-hypertensives, pre- and post- dialysis systolic and diastolic blood pressures, serum HDL cholesterol level, types and dosage of oral Vitamin D analogues administered, dosage of oral calcium carbonate administered, history of intervention for peripheral vascular disease (bypass surgery, synthetic graft replacement, stenting), history of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), history of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), whether stenting had been previously performed for the treatment of ischemic heart disease, number of cigarettes smoked, the type of vascular access used at the initiation of dialysis, and the year and month the vascular access was created. The survey results indicate that 60.9% of the total dialysis patient population was using oral antihypertensives. The patients' mean serum HDL cholesterol level was 47.65±18.47mg/dL, showing positive correlation with serum albumin level and reverse correlation with body mass index.