While dialysis is a life-saving therapy for patients with end stage kidney disease (ESKD), a variety of symptoms occur following treatment that significantly diminishes the quality of life of people living with kidney disease. Patients have identified the need to alleviate these symptoms as a key research area, prioritizing it above other health outcomes. Alleviation of these symptoms could result in increased quality of life and better patient-reported outcome measures.

Despite the patient demand for new therapies to address these symptoms, no drug or device has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to date. KHI assembled a workgroup to confirm and prioritize symptoms experienced by ESKD patients. After identifying three prioritized symptoms, the group then identified near-term, actionable research goals for these prioritized symptoms