Potential life-years gained over a 5-year period by correcting DOPPS-identified modifiable practices in haemodialysis: results from the European MONITOR-CKD5 study

BACKGROUND: DOPPS reported that thousands of life-years could be gained in the US and Europe over 5 years by correcting six modifiable haemodialysis practices. We estimated potential life-years gained across 10 European countries using MONITOR-CKD5 study data. METHODS: The DOPPS-based target ranges were used, except for haemoglobin due to label changes, as well as DOPPS-derived relative mortality risks. Percentages of MONITOR-CKD5 patients outside targets were calculated. Consistent with the DOPPS-based analyses, we extrapolated life-years gained for the MONITOR-CKD5 population over 5 years if all patients were within targets. RESULTS: Bringing the 10 MONITOR-CKD5 countries’ dialysis populations into compliance on the six practices results in a 5-year gain of 97,428 patient-years. In descending order, survival impact was the highest for albumin levels, followed by phosphate levels, vascular access, haemoglobin, dialysis adequacy, and interdialytic weight gain. CONCLUSIONS: Optimal management of the six modifiable haemodialysis practices may achieve 6.2% increase in 5-year survival. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01121237. Clinicaltrials.gov registration May 12, 2010 (retrospectively registered). ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12882-019-1251-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.