Table 1 Baseline demographics and characteristics of the study participants
| Â | Â | Serum sodium level tertile (mEq/L) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|  | Whole group | 1st tertile <138.0 | 2nd tertile 138.0 – 140.0 | 3rd tertile >140.0 |
Number of patients, n (%) | 332 (100) | 104 (31) | 116 (35) | 112 (34) |
Age (years) | 61.6 ± 12.6 | 62.3 ± 14.2 | 60.6 ± 12.0 | 61.9 ± 11.5 |
Female, n (%) | 121 (36) | 34 (33) | 41 (35) | 46 (41) |
Body mass index (kg/m2) | 21.2 ± 3.6 | 20.9 ± 4.1 | 21.2 ± 3.4 | 21.5 ± 3.3 |
Smoking history, n (%) | 118 (36) | 38 (37) | 39 (34) | 41 (37) |
Inability to ambulate or transfer, n (%) | 28 (8) | 11 (11) | 9 (8) | 8 (7) |
Comorbid conditions | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Diabetes mellitus, n (%) | 120 (36) | 51 (49) | 36 (31) | 33 (29) |
 Hypertension, n (%) | 310 (93) | 100 (96) | 105 (91) | 105 (94) |
 Cardiovascular disease, n (%) | 101 (30) | 42 (40) | 30 (26) | 29 (26) |
 Peripheral vascular disease, n (%) | 16 (5) | 9 (9) | 4 (3) | 3 (3) |
 Cerebrovascular disease, n (%) | 47 (14) | 19 (18) | 13 (11) | 15 (13) |
 Chronic liver disease, n (%) | 37 (11) | 11 (11) | 13 (11) | 13 (12) |
 Cancer, n (%) | 43 (13) | 7 (7) | 16 (14) | 20 (18) |
Dialysis vintage (months) | 124 ± 96 | 102 ± 79 | 135 ± 94 | 134 ± 108 |
IDWL (% of body weight) | 5.1 ± 1.3 | 5.6 ± 1.4 | 5.0 ± 1.3 | 4.8 ± 1.2 |
Vascular access | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Fistula | 290 (87) | 88 (85) | 103 (89) | 99 (88) |
 Graft | 38 (12) | 16 (15) | 12 (10) | 10 (9) |
 Catheter | 4 (1) | 0 (0) | 1 (1) | 3 (3) |
Laboratory data | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Serum sodium (mEg/L) | 138.9 ± 2.6 | 136.0 ± 1.8 | 139.0 ± 0.7 | 141.5 ± 1.1 |
 Hemoglobin (g/dL) | 10.5 ± 0.9 | 10.7 ± 1.1 | 10.5 ± 0.9 | 10.4 ± 0.8 |
 Serum albumin (g/dL) | 3.8 ± 0.3 | 3.8 ± 0.3 | 3.9 ± 0.3 | 3.8 ± 0.3 |
 Serum creatinine (mg/dL) | 11.7 ± 2.8 | 11.4 ± 3.0 | 12.1 ± 2.8 | 11.7 ± 2.7 |
 Serum β2-microglobulin (mg/dL) | 27.3 ± 5.3 | 28.0 ± 4.9 | 27.2 ± 5.8 | 26.6 ± 5.1 |