Table 1 Patient characteristics

Age (years), mean (SD)

53.7 (14.20)

53.9 (14.90)

53.5 (13.43)

0.830^a

Age group, n (%)

0.100^b

 Young, 18–45

36 (25.5)

19 (24.7)

17 (26.6)

 Middle aged, 46–65

75 (53.2)

41 (53.2)

34 (53.1)

 Elderly, > 65

30 (21.3)

17 (22.1)

13 (20.3)

Gender, n (%)

0.066^b

 Male

78 (55.3)

48 (62.3)

30 (46.9)

 Female

63 (44.7)

29 (37.7)

34 (53.1)

Ethnicity, n (%)

0.335^b

 Malay

65 (46.1)

32 (41.6)

33 (51.6)

 Chinese

51 (36.2)

32 (41.6)

19 (29.7)

 Indian/others

25 (17.7)

13 (16.9)

12 (18.8)

Household income per month (RM), n (%)

0.453^b

  < 3000

114 (80.9)

64 (83.1)

50 (78.1)

  ≥ 3000

27 (19.1)

13 (16.9)

14 (21.9)

Education level, n (%)

0.100^b

 Primary

39 (27.7)

19 (24.7)

20 (31.3)

 Secondary

84 (59.6)

44 (57.1)

40 (62.5)

 Tertiary

18 (12.8)

14 (18.2)

4 (6.3)

Occupation, n (%)

0.634^b

 Employed

38 (27.0)

22 (28.6)

16 (25.0)

 Unemployed/Retired/Housewife

103 (73.0)

55 (71.4)

48 (75.0)

Primary Renal disease, n (%)

0.966^b

 Diabetes mellitus

65 (46.1)

34 (44.2)

31 (48.4)

 Hypertension

32 (22.7)

17 (22.1)

15 (23.4)

 SLE / Glomerulonephritis

24 (17.0)

14 (18.2)

10 (15.6)

 Polycystic kidney

7 (5.0)

4 (5.2)

3 (4.7)

 Unknown cause /Others

13 (9.2)

8 (10.4)

5 (7.8)

 Dialysis duration (years), mean (SD)

3.9 (1.43)

4.1 (1.46)

3.7 (1.37)

0.114^a

Co-morbidities, n (%)

 Diabetes mellitus

69 (48.9)

36 (46.8)

33 (51.6)

0.570^b

 Hypertension

82 (58.2)

46 (59.7)

36 (56.3)

0.654^b

 SLE

6 (5.0)

3 (3.9)

3 (4.7)

1.000^c

 CVD

20 (14.2)

13 (16.9)

7 (10.9)

0.314^b

 Hepatitis B infection

10 (7.1)

10 (13.0)

0 (0)

< 0.001 ^b

 Hepatitis C infection

6 (4.3)

6 (7.8)

0 (0)

0.032 ^c

Body Mass Index (kg/m²), n (%)

0.134^b

 Underweight (<  18.5)

16 (11.3)

13 (16.9)

3 (4.7)

 Normal weight (18.5–24.9)

73 (51.8)

37 (48.1)

36 (56.3)

 Overweight (25.0–29.9)

31 (22.0)

15 (19.5)

16 (25.0)

 Obese (≥30)

21 (14.9)

12 (15.6)

9 (14.1)

Biochemistry, mean (SD)

 Serum calcium (mmol/L)

2.23 (0.185)

2.21 (0.20)

2.27 (0.16)

0.060^a

 Haemoglobin (g/dL)

10.6 (1.33)

10.7 (1.1)

10.6 (1.5)

0.781^a

 Serum albumin (g/L)

37 (5.5)

39 (4.5)

35 (5.6)

< 0.001 ^a

 Dialysis adequacy (Kt/V)

–

1.66 (0.28) per dialysis

1.90 (0.37) per week

–

Wheelchair-bound

1.000^c

 Yes

5 (2.8)

3 (3.9)

2 (3.1)

 No

136 (97.2)

74 (96.1)

62 (96.9)