Measuring and improving the health status of end stage renal disease patients.

This highlight reports on recent efforts to develop and promote health status measurement instruments for use in dialysis units that treat end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, most of whom are covered for all medical services under Medicare. Readers interested in a more detailed discussion of instruments, including associated data collection and data processing aspects, should consult a recently published account, with its extensive references, of four instruments currently being used in dialysis units (Rettig et al., 1997). Those interested in early reports of the clinical utility of such instruments should consult the following references (Kurtin et al., 1992; Meyer et al., 1994; and DeOreo, 1997).