Overview of regular dialysis treatment in Japan (as of 31 December 2011).

A nationwide statistical survey of 4255 dialysis facilities was conducted at the end of 2011. Responses were submitted by 4213 facilities (99.0%). The number of new patients started on dialysis was 38,613 in 2011. Although the number of new patients decreased in 2009 and 2010, it increased in 2011. The number of patients who died each year has been increasing; it was 30,743 in 2011, which exceeded 30,000 for the first time. The number of patients undergoing dialysis has also been increasing every year; it was 304,856 at the end of 2011, which exceeded 300,000 for the first time. The number of dialysis patients per million at the end of 2011 was 2385.4. The crude death rate of dialysis patients in 2011 was 10.2%, which exceeded 10% for the first time in the last 20 years. The mean age of new dialysis patients was 67.84 years and the mean age of the entire dialysis patient population was 66.55 years. The most common primary cause of renal failure among new dialysis patients was diabetic nephropathy (44.3%). Diabetic nephropathy was also the most common primary disease among the entire dialysis patient population (36.7%), exceeding chronic glomerulonephritis (34.8%) which had been the highest until last year. The survey included questions related to the Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred on 11 March 2011. The results on items associated with the Great East Japan Earthquake were reported separately from this report. The mean uric acid levels of the male and female patients were 7.30 and 7.19 mg/dL, respectively. Certain drugs for hyperuricemia were prescribed for approximately 17% of patients. From the results of the facility survey, the number of patients who underwent peritoneal dialysis (PD) was 9642 and the number of patients who did not undergo PD despite having a peritoneal dialysis catheter was 369. A basic summary of the results on the survey items associated with PD is included in this report and the details were reported separately.