Identikit of the patient who chooses the PD. Experience of the Autonomous Province of Trento,Caratterizzazione dei pazienti con questionario strutturato per la scelta della terapia renale sostitutiva. L{'}esperienza della provincia autonoma di Trento (PAT)

Peritoneal dialysis is a method still underused in Italy. In the Autonomous Province of Trento (PAT) since 2008 has been implemented, with excellent results, a program for the enhancement of the use of this therapy. The most important innovation was the introduction of a questionnaire proposed by nurses to patients in pre-dialysis colloquia. The questionnaire aimed to outline the patient personal and family profile in relation to the chosen dialysis methods. We analyzed 174 questionnaires collected from 1/04/2008 to 01/12/2015. Among these 84 patients had opted for the peritoneal dialysis (PD) and 90 had chosen the Hemodialysis (HD). The questionnaire comparison shown that the patient who opted for the PD have a more positive attitude towards this method. PD patient had more often a job, lived far away from the center of HD, had more frequently the support of a family and had a psychological profile more "sad" or "emotional" than the HD patient, who was more "insecure". On the other hand, factors like age, type of family, degree of autonomy and nationality do not affect the choice about dialysis.