Table 1 Baseline demographic and comorbidity characteristics of study cohort from January 1999 to July 2009

Gender

0.426

 Male

3,551 (52.6)

268,709 (53.1)

 Female

3,198 (47.4)

237,314 (46.9)

Race

<0.001

 AA

848 (12.6)

123,256 (24.4)

 Non-AA

5,901 (87.4)

382,767 (75.6)

Mean age at start of dialysis (yr)

65.30

70.20

< 0.001

(95% CI 65.01-65.64)

(95% CI 70.21-70.28)

Dialysis modality

<0.001

 Hemodialysis

4,636 (79.4)

412,185 (92.4)

 Peritoneal dialysis

1,206 (20.6)

34,163 (7.7)

Receipt of kidney transplant

1,784 (26.4)

24,743 (4.9)

<0.001

CHF

1,002 (14.9)

197,017 (39.6)

<0.001

Atherosclerotic heart disease

1,144 (17.0)

152,623 (30.7)

<0.001

Cerebrovascular disease (CVA, TIA)

541 (8.0)

59,859 (12.0)

<0.001

Peripheral vascular disease

452 (6.7)

91,337 (18.4)

<0.001

Hypertension

5,682 (84.4)

405,168 (81.4)

<0.001

Diabetes mellitus

480 (7.1)

212,998 (42.8)

<0.001

COPD

470 (7.0)

55,199 (11.1)

<0.001

Tobacco use

426 (6.3)

23,207 (4.7)

<0.001

Alcohol dependence

43 (0.6)

4,862 (1.0)

0.005

Mean hemoglobin (g/dL)

10.81

10.16

<0.001

(95% CI 10.75-10.87)

(95% CI 10.16-10.17)

Mean serum albumin (g/dL)

3.66

3.13

<0.001

(95% CI 3.63-3.69)

(95% CI 3.13-3.14)

Mean total cholesterol (mg/dL)

159.50

151.16

<0.001

(95% CI 155.86-163.14)

(95% CI 150.68-151.64)

Mean low density lipoprotein (mg/dL)

92.61

87.41

0.017

(95% CI 88.39-96.83)

(95% CI 86.85-87.96)

Mean body mass index (kg/m2)

27.10

28.34

<0.001

(95% CI 26.83-27.37)

(95% CI 28.30-28.37)