Assessment of Dialysis Initiation by a Fuzzy Mathematics Equation (ADIFE)

May 5, 2026 updated by: Lin Hongli, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University

Impact on Mortality of Timing of Dialysis Initiation in Patients With End-stage Renal Disease by a Novel Assessment Based on Fuzzy Mathematics

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of the optimal and late initiation of dialysis on the mortality and quality of life in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients by the Dialysis Initiation based on Fuzzy mathematics Equation (DIFE), which is a novel equation for the assessment of timing of dialysis initiation established by Fuzzy mathematics.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The optimal time of dialysis initiation is still controversial. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) which is now widely used as the assessment of timing of dialysis is lack of specificity. Some clinical factors such as heart failure, volume overload, malnutrition also determine the dialysis time. But these subjective judgements do not have a standard. So there is no quantitative assessment of timing of dialysis initiation. The research team developed a novel equation named DIFE (Dialysis Initiation based on Fuzzy mathematics Equation) with data from a retrospective multicenter cohort by fuzzy mathematical methods to combine these clinical factors and lab indexes. The DIFE was confirmed to be more accurate and convenient to use in clinical practice than eGFR only at the assessment of dialysis initiation time in the internal validation. For further validation of the DIFE, the team will conduct a multicenter randomized controlled trial. Patients who need hemodialysis will be randomized to optimal start dailysis group or late start dailysis group by the assessment of the DIFE. Based on the comparison of the two groups, this trial will provide evidence for the optimal timing of dialysis initiation in patients with end-stage renal disease by the DIFE.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
388

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • China
    • Liaoning
      • Dalian, Liaoning, China, 116011
        • The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Have progressive chronic kidney disease with an eGFR less than 15 ml/min/1.73m2 and a DIFE between 30-35
  • Expected to commence maintenance hemodialysis as their renal replacement treatment
  • Agreeable to randomization

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Acute kidney injury (AKI) or AKI on chronic kidney disease (CKD)
  • With the primary disease of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or systemic vasculitis
  • Have received or planning to receive a kidney transplant or peritoneal dialysis during the study
  • Has a recently diagnosed cancer that was likely to affect survival (except for the following cases: the cancer has been confirmed to be cured or relieved for over 5 years, have had the radical resection for the basal cell carcinoma or squamous carcinoma of skin or carcinoma in-situ of any part of the body )
  • Hepatocirrhosis
  • Positive test of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the hepatitis B virus antigen (HBsAg) or anti-hepatitis C virus antibody (HCV Ab)
  • Acute infection within 1 month
  • Bad habit which is difficult to withdrawal such as alcohol abuse
  • Poor compliance and could not be treated according to the protocol
  • Being pregnant, nursing or having a plan for pregnancy
  • Life expectancy less than 1 year
  • The investigator confirm that should not enroll in the study with any other cases

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: optimal start dialysis group
The DIFE will be used as the assessment of initiation time of dialysis. Patients in this group will start dialysis when their results of the DIFE reaching to 30-35, which defined as the optimal start time.
Other: optimal start time
patients will start hemodialysis when their DIFE reach 35, and can not wait if the DIFE decline to 30.
Active Comparator: late start dialysis group
the DIFE will be used as the assessment of initiation time of dialysis. Patients in this group will start dialysis when their results of the DIFE less than 30, which defined as late start time.
Other: late start time
patients will start hemodialysis when their DIFE less than 30

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
all-cause mortality
Time Frame: from the date of enrollment until the end of study, assessed up to 3 years
proportion of patients who die from any cause
from the date of enrollment until the end of study, assessed up to 3 years
cerebro-cardiovascular mortality
Time Frame: 3 years, from the date of enrollment until the end of study
proportion of patients who die from cerebro-cardiovascular disease
3 years, from the date of enrollment until the end of study

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
cerebro-cardiovascular events
Time Frame: from the date of enrollment until the date of death from any cause, or the end of study, which ever came first, assessed up to 3 years
proportion of patients who suffer from cardiovascular events, which include nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, transient ischemic attack,new-onset angina, acute heart failure or severe arrhythmia.
from the date of enrollment until the date of death from any cause, or the end of study, which ever came first, assessed up to 3 years
hospitalization
Time Frame: from the date of enrollment until the date of death from any cause, or the end of study, which ever came first, assessed up to 3 years
proportion of patients admitted to hospital
from the date of enrollment until the date of death from any cause, or the end of study, which ever came first, assessed up to 3 years
Nutrition assessment
Time Frame: from the date of enrollment until the date of death from any cause, or the end of study, which ever came first, assessed up to 3 years
assess the patient's nutritional status by subjective global assessment (SGA) assessment and serum albumin level
from the date of enrollment until the date of death from any cause, or the end of study, which ever came first, assessed up to 3 years
the change of quality of life
Time Frame: from the date of enrollment until the date of death from any cause, or the end of study, which ever came first, assessed up to 3 years
use short form-36 reported by the patients to assess the patient's quality of life
from the date of enrollment until the date of death from any cause, or the end of study, which ever came first, assessed up to 3 years
Medical cost
Time Frame: from the date of enrollment until the date of death from any cause, or the end of study, which ever came first, assessed up to 3 years
the cost by the patient, family and insurance during treatment
from the date of enrollment until the date of death from any cause, or the end of study, which ever came first, assessed up to 3 years
Hemodialysis complications
Time Frame: from the date of enrollment until the date of death from any cause, or the end of study, which ever came first, assessed up to 3 years
the proportion of patients who suffer from hemodialysis complications including blood assess revise, assess infection, severe fluid and electrolyte disorders
from the date of enrollment until the date of death from any cause, or the end of study, which ever came first, assessed up to 3 years
cognitive dysfunction
Time Frame: from the date of enrollment until the date of death from any cause, or the end of study, which ever came first, assessed up to 3 years
assess cognitive dysfunction by Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)
from the date of enrollment until the date of death from any cause, or the end of study, which ever came first, assessed up to 3 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Fudan University
Beijing Friendship Hospital
Chinese PLA General Hospital
First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University
RenJi Hospital
Huashan Hospital
West China Hospital
First Affiliated Hospital Xi'an Jiaotong University
Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital
Henan Provincial People's Hospital
First Hospital of China Medical University
General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Fuwai Hospital
Daping Hospital and the Research Institute of Surgery of the Third Military Medical University
The Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University
First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University
The First Affiliated Hospital of the Fourth Military Medical University
First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University
Lanzhou University Second Hospital
Dalian Municipal Central Hospital
General hospital of benxi iron and steel co.
An Steel Group Hospital
General Hospital of Mining Industry Group Fuxin
Central Hospital Affiliated to Shenyang Medical Collage
Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital of Dalian University

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Study Director: Hongli Lin, MD， PhD, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
April 14, 2018

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
May 20, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
May 20, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
December 21, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 21, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
December 29, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
May 8, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 5, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • YJ-KY-2017-119

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Chronic Kidney Disease

Clinical Trials on optimal start time

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings