Epidemiologic and socioeconomic profile of Guatemalan hemodialysis patients: Assessment and dissemination via a free-access information system

There is wide variation in the presence of renal replacement therapy (RRT) registries throughout the world, which is a major obstacle to designing and implementing coordinated strategies for chronic kidney disease care and resource planning. Guatemala does not have a national registry of patients on RRT. We describe the result of a cross-sectional study at a national level on epidemiologic and socioeconomic characteristics of hemodialysis patients in Guatemala: most patients were male (57%), above the age of 20 (90%), unemployed (60%), married or in a civil union (53%), had an elementary school education (47%), and living in the geographical clusters in the south of the country. We also describe a free-access website created with the results of the study. Given that Guatemala is still years away from a complete national registry, this information can be used by interested parties in the meantime to promote rational use of limited resources and to inform data-driven health policies.