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Media Release 10 November 2009
Kidney Failure Higher in Australian Men
Australian men are being accepted onto dialysis programs at a rate 154% higher than women
according to data released today by Kidney Health Australia. In Australia in 2008, 1503 men and 973
women started dialysis.
Tim Mathew Medical Director of Kidney Health Australia said given the overall population in Australia where
the sex ratio is about equal it is surprising to see such a large difference in the acceptance rate.
Dr Mathew said the gap has been steadily widening over the last 25 years with the increase in men
undertaking dialysis rising from 53% in 1982 to the current 61% with the increase occurring in men at all
ages.
The male excess occurs in most of the common conditions that cause kidney failure including diabetes,
nephritis and vascular disease.
Dr Mathew said the explanation for the large and increasing gender gap was not obvious and had not been
well studied. There is some data showing that men with early chronic kidney disease (CKD) progress more
quickly into kidney failure than women although this is balanced by the fact that according to current criteria
women have more early CKD than men.
Further work was needed to determine if the gender gap was due to intrinsic differences in disease frequency
and expression or to differences in health seeking behavior. Dr Mathew said he was unaware of any negative
selection bias towards women into dialysis though in the elderly where kidney failure is most frequent the
decision to commence dialysis is often complex.
Men dominate the home haemodialysis scene with 73% of all people at home being male.
Dr Mathew said “Men at high risk of CKD should request regular kidney checks when they visit their
GP in the same way people are now conditioned to ask for checks for prostate cancer, heart, blood
pressure or diabetes”
The gender issues identified in CKD and all of its stages will need to be addressed as part of future health
planning and the provision of dialysis services which are expected to double to 20,000 by 2020 with an
ageing population.
Dr Mathew said, “The number of people actually dialyzing on December 31, 2008 was 10,062 – a 6.3%
increase on the previous year. At an estimated average annual cost of $65K per patient this represents an
additional cost to the Health budget of about $27.3 million/year compared to the end of 2007.”
The Australian CKD scene is characterized a steady increase in the numbers of people entering dialysis
programs and in those dying of kidney failure. Almost 1 million hospitalizations for dialysis occurred in 2007-8
accounting for 17.4% of all separations from public hospitals. This number had increased by 131% over the
last 5 years (AIHW, June 2009). The number of people with silent or asymptomatic early CKD was believed to
be on the increase driven by the increased prevalence of diabetes and the ageing of the population.
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