With the evidence that dialysis may not necessarily be beneficial for older adults with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD), there is a growing interest in promoting conservative care without dialysis as a viable treatment option for these individuals. This review summarizes the current empirical evidence of symptom experiences and quality of life of patients receiving conservative care. Data suggest that conservative care may yield symptom experiences and quality of life that are compatible with those of patients on dialysis. However, these data are exclusively from studies conducted outside of the United States in which there were often no comparison groups or study designs that could provide high quality evidence. There is an urgent need for further research and developing a conservative care model suitable for CKD populations in the U.S.
© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.