Dialysis

Patients on hemodialysis take 12 medications per day on average. This project will develop tools to help reduce the use of medications that lack evidence for effectiveness and safety in hemodialysis patients.

Evidence suggests that patient-reported outcomes measures (PROMs) have a positive impact in clinical practice; however, the impact on health outcomes and experiences is not fully understood. This research aims to fill this gap by evaluating the impact of routinely measuring and reporting patient-reported experience and outcomes, clinical outcomes, and healthcare utilization.

This study will try to examine sodium deposition in the skin, muscle and bones of patients with different kidney function and different dialysis modalities and its association with symptoms.

Gabapentin and pramipexole are commonly used drugs for several conditions and are known to reduce restless legs in patients who do not have kidney disease. The results of DISCO will determine whether gabapentin, pramipexole, or both should be offered to patients receiving dialysis who suffer from restless legs.

Spironolactone is a drug that is very effective at reducing scarring of the heart and might help prevent heart-related deaths in patients with kidney failure. We will determine if spironolactone reduces heart related deaths and hospitalizations due to heart failure.