End stage renal disease is associated with development of dementia

There is controversy regarding the extent of risk for dementia in patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) who are undergoing hemodialysis (HD) or peritoneal dialysis (PD). We examined data from Taiwan's Longitudinal Health Insurance Database, and used Cox proportional hazard regression analysis to compare the development of dementia in 72,934 HD and PD patients with 72,934 matched controls from January 1, 1999 to December 31, 2010. The results indicate an increased risk for dementia overall in HD patients (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 1.64, p < 0.0001) and PD patients (aHR = 2.21, p < 0.0001). HD and PD patients also had significantly greater aHRs for vascular dementia (VaD) and unspecified dementia (UnD), but only HD patients had a significantly greater aHR for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Further research is needed to confirm whether management of ESRD with PD can reduce the incidence of AD, and to identify the mechanisms by which ESRD increases the risk of dementia.