Abstract
Denmark was one of the first countries to introduce dialysis and transplant treatment. It is a relatively small country (5.7 million), and nephrology treatment is concentrated in 15 specialist nephrology departments, including three transplantation centres. Treatment is universal and free of charge, being financed by public taxation. The epidemiology of renal disease is similar to other European countries. Notable features of nephrology care in Denmark include a high prevalence of home dialysis therapies (28% of dialysis patients): peritoneal dialysis (21%) and home haemodialysis (7%). The country has a high scientific activity, in particular in the fields of renal epidemiology and diabetic nephropathy.
Uraemia prophylaxis has been widely practiced for many years, and the incidence of end-stage renal disease among patients >60 years has been falling since 2000. As a corollary, the prevalence of diabetic nephropathy among end-stage renal disease patients is relatively low (17%).
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Heaf, J., Carlson, N., Povlsen, J.V., Sørensen, S.S., Wittenhagen, P. (2021). Nephrology in Denmark. In: Moura-Neto, J.A., Divino-Filho, J.C., Ronco, C. (eds) Nephrology Worldwide. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56890-0_38
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