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Table 1 Baseline facility- and patient-level characteristics in the STEPPS study by dialysis facility 25% and 100% opt-in status

From: Comparative changes in treatment practices and clinical outcomes following implementation of a prospective payment system: the STEPPS study

BASELINE CHARACTERISTICS N (%); mean ± SD

25% (n = 346, 12 facilities)

100% (n = 1296, 37 facilities)

p-value

|Standardized Difference|

Facility-level characteristics

    

South (vs.non-South) geographic region

5 (41.7)

17 (45.9)

0.80

0.09

Urban (vs.rural)

10 (83.3)

28 (75.7)

0.71

0.19

For profit status

12 (100.0)

30 (81.1)

0.17

0.68

Percent Medicare primary payer

78.1 ± 14.9

64.0 ± 17.6

0.02

0.86d

Patient-level characteristics

    

Age (years)

60.6 ± 15.6

61.6 ± 14.9

0.29

0.06

Male sex

201 (58.1)

738 (56.9)

0.70

0.02

Race

    

  White

130 (37.6)

743 (57.3)

0.00

0.42d

  Black

137 (39.6)

303 (23.4)

  

  Other/Unknown

79 (22.8)

250 (19.3)

  

Primary Cause of CKD

    

  Diabetes

151 (43.6)

604 (46.6)

0.05

0.15

  Hypertension

110 (31.8)

328 (25.3)

  

  Other/unknown

85 (24.6)

364 (28.1)

  

BMI (kg/m2)

28.6 ± 6.7

29.2 ± 7.7

0.16

0.08

Years on dialysis

4.1 ± 3.7

3.1 ± 3.1

<0.0001

0.29d

Medical History

    

  Congestive Heart Failure

111 (32.1)

359 (27.7)

0.11

0.10

  Hypertension

288 (83.2)

1121 (86.5)

0.12

0.09

  Diabetes

148 (42.8)

623 (48.1)

0.08

0.11

  Cancer (other than skin)

31 (9.0)

157 (12.1)

0.10

0.10

Vascular access typea

    

  Arteriovenous fistula/graft

287 (82.9)

1013 (78.3)

0.06

0.12

  Venous catheter

59 (17.1)

281 (21.7)

  

Laboratory values a

    

Hemoglobin (g/dL)

11.3 ± 1.3

11.2 ± 1.3

0.26

0.07

Hemoglobin group

    

  <10 g/dL

41 (11.8)

194 (15.0)

0.15

0.12

  10 – 12 g/dL

204 (59.0)

784 (60.5)

  

  ≥12 g/dL

99 (28.6)

317 (24.5)

  

PTH (pg/dL)

443.0 ± 344.3

358.4 ± 306.8

<0.0001

0.26e

Calcium (mg/dL)

8.9 ± 0.8

9.0 ± 0.7

0.02

0.14

Phosphorus (mg/dL)

5.3 ± 1.6

5.3 ± 1.6

0.68

0.03

TSAT (%)

28.7 ± 11.0

31.4 ± 12.3

<0.0001

0.23e

Ferritin (ng/mL)

642.6 ± 388.2

754.7 ± 466.8

<0.0001

0.26e

Albumin (g/dL)

3.8 ± 0.4

3.8 ± 0.4

0.44

0.05

ESA administration a,b

    

EPO monthly dose (units)

62471 ± 61748

53655 ± 55605

0.02

0.15

IV (vs. SC) ESA route

299 (92.6)

1092 (92.0)

0.74

0.02

Other medications c

    

Iron use

    

  IV only

239 (69.1)

891 (68.8)

0.69

0.08

  Oral only

1 (0.3)

11 (0.8)

  

  Both IV and Oral

5 (1.4)

17 (1.3)

  

  No iron use

101 (29.2)

377 (29.1)

  

Vitamin D use

    

  IV only

284 (82.1)

949 (73.2)

<0.0001

0.32e

  Oral only

0 (0.0)

37 (2.9)

  

  Both IV and Oral

9 (2.6)

78 (6.0)

  

  No Vitamin D use

53 (15.3)

232 (17.9)

  

Cinacalcet use

82 (23.7)

294 (22.7)

0.69

0.02

Phosphate binder use

232 (67.1)

791 (61.0)

0.04

0.13

  1. aLast non-missing value in the baseline period; bAmong ESA users; cWithin the baseline period; dTime-invariant variable evaluated as potential confounder in parsimonious modeling; eTime-variant variable not evaluated as potential confounder in parsimonious modeling.
  2. BMI, body mass index; TSAT, transferrin saturation; PTH, parathyroid hormone; EPO, epoetin alfa; IV, intravenous; SC, subcutaneous.