Clinical outcomes of peritoneal dialysis across Southeast Asia and North America: a scoping review protocol

Introduction: PD is a well-established kidney replacement therapy delivered across diverse health system contexts. In North America, peritoneal dialysis (PD) is one modality within an established dialysis system supported by extensive registry infrastructure. In contrast, in several Southeast Asian (SEA) countries, PD has been promoted to expand access in the context of limited hemodialysis capacity and constrained resources. These differing policy, organizational, and clinical environments may influence observed clinical outcomes and challenge assumptions regarding the transferability of evidence across regions. Despite a growing literature, PD clinical outcomes across SEA and North America remain fragmented and heterogeneous, with no comprehensive synthesis characterizing patterns and gaps in outcome reporting across these regions. This scoping review aims to map and characterize the existing literature on clinical outcomes of PD among individuals receiving PD in SEA and North America, examine patterns, heterogeneity, and gaps in outcome reporting that may inform future research, clinical practice, and policy development. Methods and Analysis: The review will be conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for scoping reviews and reported following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. A comprehensive search strategy will be applied across MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase (Elsevier), and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), with reference list screening of included studies. Two reviewers will independently screen titles, abstracts, and full texts against predefined eligibility criteria. Data will be extracted using a structured, piloted Excel-based form capturing study characteristics, participant populations, reported PD outcomes, and authors’ interpretations. Results will be synthesized descriptively and presented in tabular and narrative formats, without quantitative pooling. Findings will be analyzed descriptively through mapping and categorization of outcomes by region and clinical domain to identify patterns, heterogeneity, and gaps in outcome reporting. Ethics and Dissemination: Ethical approval is not required for this study as it will synthesize data from published literature only. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publication and presentation at relevant nephrology and global health conferences. The results are intended to inform future research design, enhance the comparability of outcome reporting, and support clinical and policy decision-making related to PD across diverse healthcare system contexts.