ESRD Population Grows, EPO Use Decreases

The latest numbers from the U.S. Renal Data System (USRDS) have been released and they show an every-growing patient population and downward trend in the use of erythropoietin-stimulating agents (ESAs)

Click HERE to check out some of the numbers from the USRDS report in RBT’s latest SlideShow.

The ESRD population keeps growing, reaching 571,000, according to the 2009 USRDS numbers. Within that number, 399,000 people were on dialysis. Another striking number is that new dialysis patients increased 3.5 percent in 2009. A year earlier, the increase was 1.2 percent.

Also noteworthy are the number of hemoglobin in the USRDS report. These suggest that label changes to Epogen and other ESAs have had an affect on prescribing. According to the USRDS, “Hemoglobin levels at the initiation of dialysis have fallen below 10 g/dl, a level not seen since 2000.”

Also, the USRDS reported that the mean EPO doses per week were 18,206. That’s down from a peak of 20,000 between 2004 and 2007 when a greater proportion of patients had levels nearing 12 g/dl. It will be interesting to keep track of these trends with future reports.

You can access the USRDS 2011 Annual Data Report HERE.