Few elderly patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are treated with peritoneal dialysis (PD). Among dialysis patients >or=65 years of age reported by the U.S. Renal Data System (USRDS), the percentage treated with chronic peritoneal dialysis (CPD) is lower than in any other age group. To evaluate the effectiveness of automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) in the elderly, we compared several outcome measures in cohorts of different ages maintained on APD. The outcome measures we examined included mortality and technique failure rates, peritonitis rates, outcomes of peritonitis, and quality of life measures. We found that while patients >or=65 years of age have a higher mortality rate than younger patients, technique failure rates, overall peritonitis rates, and most quality of life measures are not different than for younger patients. However, patients >or=65 years of age have higher gram-negative peritonitis rates and lower scores on the physical component score of the SF-36 than younger patients. The present study suggests that APD is a reasonable treatment modality for elderly patients with ESRD and that elderly patients with progressive renal failure should be considered as candidates for APD.