Targeted Education ApproaCH to Improve Peritoneal Dialysis Outcomes Trial

End stage kidney disease is fatal unless treated with dialysis or transplant. Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a core dialysis modality offering home-based care for patients. PD utilization is frequently threatened beyond 5 years for most patients due to PD-related infections. Patient training is a critical cornerstone of mitigating infection risk and maximizing PD durability (technique survival), but training practices are characterized by a lack of standardization and severe heterogeneity.

There is no high-level evidence to inform PD training. Accordingly, a structured program encompassing how and what to teach PD patients at the inception of PD treatment has the potential to reduce serious PD-related infections, extend the longevity of PD, support cost-effective home-based dialysis care, and reduce costs and health service utilization associated with hospitalization and transition to haemodialysis. TEACH-PD is a standardised modular curriculum for both PD nurse trainers and patients that has been collaboratively developed by renal nurses, doctors, educationalists and patients, aligned to current International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD) guidelines, utilizing modern adult learning principles. The TEACH-PD program is feasible and acceptable, as demonstrated in a successful pilot study.

The primary objective of TEACH-PD CRCT (Targeted Education ApproaCH to improve Peritoneal Dialysis outcomes - a Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial) is to determine whether implementation of standardised training modules based on ISPD guidelines targeting both PD trainers and patients results in a longer time to the composite end-point of exit site infections, tunnel infections and peritonitis in incident PD patients compared to existing training practices.

TEACH-PD is a registry-based, pragmatic, multi-center, multinational trial, randomising PD units to implementing TEACH-PD training modules targeted at PD trainers and incident PD patients versus standard existing practices.

An estimated 1,500 patient new to PD will be recruited from at least approximately 42-44 PD units in Australia and New Zealand.The study is being coordinated by the University of Queensland (operating through the Australasian Kidney Trial Network).

The TEACH-PD training modules have been developed by a core group of renal nurses from the HOME Network in conjunction with senior medical clinicians from the Australasian Kidney Trials Network, eLearning curriculum developers, consumer representatives, and education experts, in line with the ISPD guidelines, utilizing modern adult learning principles and best practice eLearning techniques. The modules will be implemented at PD units in Australia and New Zealand to formally evaluate whether, compared with standard care, a standardised training curriculum will reduce the rate of PD-related infections and improve technique survival, resulting in better outcomes for patients receiving PD and significant cost-savings to the community.

Inclusion criteria

• Patients new to PD;
• Patients > 18 years of age,
• Need to undergo PD training;
• Are able to provide informed consent