Trends in medication use and clinical outcomes in twelve countries: results form the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS).

The Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS) was designed to identify clinical practices of hemodialysis associated with patients longevity. For more than 10 years, DOPPS has been collecting detailed information on patients and facility characteristics from 12 countries across the world. Multiple aspects of clinical care in hemodialysis may be associated with improved outcomes. However, changes in many practices are hard to implement. One practice that can be relatively easier to modify is the physician prescription of medications. The associations between medication prescription and outcomes have been the object of several DOPPS publications. We present here a brief summary of DOPPS findings on prescription of several classes of medications and clinical outcomes.