Abstract

Aim of the study was to present the epidemiological data of renal replacement therapy (RRT) in Estonia for the past decade.

Subjects and methods. All patients receiving RRT were included in analysis. Clinical information was collected from hospital medical records and from the questionnaires of the haemodialysis centre.

Results. The prevalence of RRT more than doubled during the studied period, from 138 to 342 patients per million population. The prevalence of diabetes and hypertension among RRT patients rose from 7 to 21% and from 2 to 15%, respectively. The mean age of dialysis patients increased, while the ratio of men to women treated with RRT was in favour of men. Transplantation has reached an impressive level: more than 50% of RRT patients lived with functioning grafts.

Conclusion. The prevalence of the RRT was lower compared with the data of RRT from the Nordic countries for the studied period. However, yearly increase in the number of RRT patients was higher compared with the corresponding data from the above named countries. The authors conclude that more efforts should be directed to the education of primary care doctors as well as to increasing the awareness of the population regarding prevention of progression of chronic renal failure.