Persons with end stage renal disease (ESRD) are eligible to receive dialysis services under the Medicare program. An individual-level analysis was performed to determine the factors associated with the modality selected by patients; namely in-center hemodialysis, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), continuous cycling peritoneal dialysis (CCPD), and home hemodialysis. Logistic regression equations were estimated using program data for 73,448 ESRD Medicare patients attending freestanding dialysis facilities. The results showed that CAPD, CCPD, and home hemodialysis were more likely to be selected by patients who were younger, had non-systemic precipitating causes of ESRD, had a shorter duration of ESRD, attended larger facilities, and were not ethnic minorities. There is no consistent evidence demonstrating the superiority of particular modalities. The policy goal should be to enable beneficiaries to use the modality for which they are best suited, which requires that the range of modalities be available to all ESRD beneficiaries.
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