SynthesisBMC research notes2015
A systematic review of the impact of center volume in dialysis.
Synthesis in BMC research notes, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Addressing the inequity of access to home Dialysis in Europe: recommendations for action informed by an international consensus exercise.BMC nephrology · 2025Article
- Catheter Event Rates in Medical Compared to Surgical Peritoneal Dialysis Catheter Insertion.Kidney international reports · 2023Article
- An update on absolute and relative indications for dialysis treatment modalities.Clinical kidney journal · 2023Review
- Protocol for the development of a core outcome set for studies on centralisation of healthcare services.BMJ open · 2023Article
- The effect of minimum volume standards in hospitals (MIVOS) - protocol of a systematic review.Systematic reviews · 2023Article
- Ethical challenges in nephrology: a call for action.Nature reviews. Nephrology · 2020Review
- Repatriation of Patients to Referral Centers and Outcomes After Kidney Transplantation: A Single-center Analysis From the United Kingdom.Transplantation direct · 2018Article
- Center Variation and the Effect of Center and Provider Characteristics on Clinical Outcomes in Kidney Transplantation: A Systematic Review of the Evidence.Canadian journal of kidney health and disease · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundA significant relationship exists between the volume of surgical procedures that a given center performs and subsequent outcomes. It seems plausible that such a volume-outcome relationship is also present in dialysis.
methodsMEDLINE and EMBASE were searched in November 2014 for non-experimental studies evaluating the association between center volume and patient outcomes [mortality, morbidity, peritonitis, switch to hemodialysis (HD) or any other treatment], without language restrictions or other limits. Selection of relevant studies, data extraction and critical appraisal were performed by two independent reviewers. We did not perform meta-analysis due to clinical and methodological heterogeneity (e.g. different volume categories).
results16 studies met out inclusion criteria. Most studies were performed in the US. The study quality ranged from fair to good. Only few items were judged to have a high risk of bias, while many items were judged to have an unclear risk of bias due to insufficient reporting. All 10 studies that analyzed peritoneal dialysis (PD) technique survival by modeling switch to HD or any other treatment as an outcome showed a statistical significant effect. The relative effect measures ranged from 0.25 to 0.94 (median 0.73) in favor of high volume centers. All nine studies indicated a lower mortality for PD in high volume centers, but only study was statistical significant.
conclusionsThis systematic review supports a volume-outcome relationship in peritoneal dialysis with respect to switch to HD or any other treatment. An effect on mortality is probably present in HD. Further research is needed to identify and understand the associations of center volume that are causally related to patient benefit.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.