Recent research suggests not necessarily.
Routine monthly blood testing for prevalent patients on hemodialysis (HD) is not associated with a lower risk of death, hyperkalemia, cardiovascular (CV) events, or hospitalization compared with blood testing every 6 weeks, according to a new study.
Among incident patients on HD, monthly testing was associated with an increased risk of hyperkalemia, CV events, and hospitalization compared with testing every 6 weeks.
However, the optimum time interval between tests couldn't really be determined from the research, published in the article by Thomas A, Silver SA, Perl J, et al. The frequency of routine blood sampling and patient outcomes among maintenance hemodialysis patients [published online November 12, 2019]. Am J Kidney Dis. doi: 10.1053/j.ajkd.2019.08.016, available here
