Abstract
BACKGROUND: Peritoneal dialysis (PD)-related infections are associated with an increased risk of mortality and impaired quality of life. The evidence for education interventions that lower rates of PD infection and improve patient outcomes is uncertain, which limits PD uptake despite its many advantages. The Targeted Education ApproaCH to Improve Peritoneal Dialysis Outcomes (TEACH-PD) is a registry-based, multi-center, cluster-randomized, controlled trial evaluating whether a standardized PD training curriculum for nurses and patients reduces the risk of PD-related infections. METHODS: The demographic and clinical characteristics of the TEACH-PD participants were compared with patients who commenced PD during the recruitment period (July 2019 to September 2023) in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) drawn from the Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant (ANZDATA) Registry and who were not enrolled in TEACH-PD. The cluster and individual characteristics were compared between the trial and the registry population using descriptive statistics and standardized differences. The characteristics of centers and participants were also compared between the two contributing countries. RESULTS: In total, 5,987 eligible patients commenced PD, with 1,462 subsequently enrolled from 42 eligible clusters into TEACH-PD. Overall, the demographic and clinical characteristics of TEACH-PD participants and ANZ patients not enrolled in TEACH-PD were similar. The participant characteristics differed between countries for ethnicity, body mass index, kidney function at dialysis commencement, and cause of kidney failure. CONCLUSIONS: TEACH-PD participants had similar demographic and clinical characteristics as non-trial patients commencing PD in ANZ. These results indicate that the findings from the TEACH-PD trial on completion may be broadly generalizable to dialysis care across ANZ. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The TEACH-PD trial was registered on 24 January 2019 (http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov)NCT03816111. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12882-025-04440-5.