Hospital Utilization and Costs in Older Patients with Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease Choosing Conservative Care or Dialysis: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: Nondialytic conservative care has been recognized as a viable alternative to chronic dialysis in older patients with end-stage kidney disease, but little is known about its consequences on hospital utilization and costs. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study to compare outpatient and inpatient hospital utilization, place of death, and hospital costs in patients aged ≥70 years old who chose conservative care (n = 100) or dialysis (n = 162) after shared decision making in a nonacademic teaching hospital between 2008 and 2016. Results: Patients who chose conservative care were older than patients who chose dialysis (82.5 vs. 76.3 years). Comorbidity did not differ between the 2 patient groups. The incidence rates of outpatient visits per year were 7.1 in patients who chose conservative care and 10.7 in patients who chose dialysis (incidence rate ratio 0.67, 95% CI 0.55-0.81). The incidence rates of in-hospital days per year were, respectively, 6.0 and 9.8 (incidence rate ratio 0.50, 95% CI 0.29-0.88). Also in the final month of life, patients on conservative care had less outpatient visits, were less frequently hospitalized, and died less frequently in hospital than the dialysis patient group. The cost rates per year, measured from original treatment decision, were EUR 5,859 in conservative care patients and EUR 28,354 in patients who chose dialysis comprising both the predialysis and dialysis period (cost rate ratio 0.42, 95% CI 0.27-0.65). Patients who chose dialysis had higher costs on dialysis sessions, outpatient care, inpatient care, laboratory tests, and medical imaging. Conclusions: Patients who decided to forego dialysis and chose conservative care had less outpatient and inpatient hospital utilization than patients who chose dialysis, including less intensive hospital utilization near the end of life. Both overall and nondialysis-related costs were lower in patients on a conservative care pathway.