Table 1 Baseline characteristics of patients choosing dialysis or conservative care, determined at treatment decision
|  | Dialysis (n = 240) | Conservative care (n = 126) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
Age (years), mean (SD) | 76.2 (4.4) | 82.6 (4.5) | <  0.001 |
Aged ≥80 years | 55 (23%) | 93 (74%) | <  0.001 |
Sex (female) | 80 (33%) | 58 (46%) | 0.02 |
Davies comorbidity score | 0.73 | ||
 No comorbidity (score = 0) | 27 (11%) | 11 (9%) |  |
 Intermediate comorbidity (score = 1 or 2) | 142 (59%) | 75 (59%) |  |
 Severe comorbidity (score ≥ 3) | 71 (30%) | 40 (32%) |  |
Primary renal diagnoses | 0.12 | ||
 Renal vascular disease | 82 (34%) | 58 (46%) |  |
 Diabetes mellitus | 40 (17%) | 16 (13%) |  |
 Hypertension | 21 (9%) | 7 (6%) |  |
 Pyelonephritis | 5 (2%) | 5 (4%) |  |
 Polycystic kidneys | 7 (3%) | 1 (1%) |  |
 Glomerulonephritis | 7 (3%) | 0 (0%) |  |
 Cause unknown | 58 (24%) | 30 (24%) |  |
 Other | 20 (8%) | 9 (7%) |  |
Body mass index (kg/m2), mean (SD) | 27.0 (4.5; n = 196) | 26.2 (4.8; n = 98) | 0.16 |
Albumin (g/l), mean (SD) | 39.2 (4.6; n = 186) | 38.8 (3.5; n = 109) | 0.42 |
C-reactive protein (nmol/l), median (IQR) | 47.6 (28.6–95.2; n = 173) | 47.6 (28.6–123.8; n = 93) | 0.12 |
eGFR at treatment decision (mL/min/1.73m2), mean (SD) | 13.3 (4.3) | 15.6 (5.0) | <  0.001 |
Time of eGFR decline from < 20 to < 15 mL/min/1.73m2(days), median (IQR) | 238 (52–461; n = 188) | 212 (0–564; n = 80) | 0.55 |
Time from treatment decision to dialysis initiation (days), median (IQR) | 146 (48–437; n = 146) |  |  |
eGFR at start of dialysis (mL/min/1.73m2), mean (SD) | 8.4 (2.9; n = 146) |  |  |