No abstract

Psychosocial characteristics play a major role in TS in dialysis patients. Within a multivariate approach, these factors are even more important than physical or environment-related factors. In practice, focusing on SDM and screening patient characteristics at an early stage can foster patients’ TS. Changes will be examined in a 1-year follow-up.

These differences may reflect the degree of autonomy and self-care associated with the different treatment modalities. In practice, our findings suggest that the early identification and inclusion of persons providing social support for patients may have a positive effect on different aspects of their care and quality of life.

We excluded almost one half of eligible patients from cognitive testing due to visual, motivational, or motor difficulties. Our findings are consistent with exclusion categories reported from the literature. We should be aware that, because of disease-related limitations, conclusions about cognitive functioning in the CKD population may be biased. In the future, nonvisual and nonverbal cognitive testing can be a valuable resource.

BackgroundTo date, research has neglected the patient's psychosocial and cognitive conditions as contributing factors to dialysis modality decision-making. Hence, the Choice of Renal Replacement Therapy (CORETH) study aims to examine these conditions with regard to their impact on the choice. Here we describe the design of the multicentre study, which is supported by a grant from the German Ministry for Education and Research.MethodsTwo groups of patients will be compared after having chosen peritoneal or haemodialysis as permanent treatment. About 1200 participants from 50 dialysis centres all over Germany will be questioned. The questionnaire addresses social, psychological and shared decision-making aspects. Furthermore, cognitive functioning will be tested. For an economic evaluation direct and indirect costs of treatment will be calculated. Changes will be examined through a one-year follow-up.ConclusionsThe results will enlighten the treatment choice under the German healthcare system. They will provide further insight regarding the discussion on patient autonomy. From the patients' perspective, the results will help to strengthen their participation in the individual process of health-related decision-making.