Table 1 Baseline characteristics according to baseline cortisol level

Serum cortisol (μg/dL)

10.2±3.6

12.9±2.5

7.4±1.9

<0.001

ACTH (pg/mL)

31.7 [19.8, 47.1]

38.3 [23, 53.7]

24.9 [17.5, 37.8]

0.001

Age (yr)

62.9±10.5

63.4±10.1

62.4±11.0

0.594

Male (%)

65 (48.9)

31 (46.3)

34 (51.5)

0.545

HD duration (yr)

4.2 [1.8, 7.7]

4.2 [2.2, 8.3]

4.3 [1.3, 6.9]

0.439

Diabetes mellitus (%)

91 (68.4)

49 (73.1)

42 (63.6)

0.239

Hypertension (%)

127 (95.5)

65 (97.0)

62 (93.9)

0.441

Cardiovascular disease (%)

66 (49.6)

40 (59.7)

26 (39.4)

0.019

Dose of erythropoietin (IU/week)

8000 [4000, 12000]

10000 [4000, 12000]

4500 [3000, 9000]

0.008

Body mass index (kg/m²)

23.0±4.3

23.1±3.9

22.9±4.7

0.806

Interdialytic weight gain (kg)

2.36±0.85

2.39±0.83

2.34±0.88

0.736

Kt/V

1.68±0.3

1.62±0.28

1.68±0.35

0.348

Plasma hemoglobin (g/dL)

10.5±1.0

10.6±1.1

10.4±0.8

0.287

Glucose (mg/dL)

168.5±76.4

174.4±83.3

162.4±68.8

0.366

Serum albumin (g/dL)

3.8±0.4

3.8±0.3

3.7±0.4

0.156

Sodium (mEq/L)

138.3±3.8

137.5±3.9

139.0±3.6

0.024

Potassium (mEq/L)

4.7±0.8

4.8±0.7

4.7±0.8

0.674

Serum calcium (mg/dL)

8.9±0.8

9.0±0.7

8.7±0.9

0.134

Serum phosphorus (mg/dL)

4.4±1.4

4.5±1.3

4.3±1.6

0.429

Intact PTH (pg/mL)

279 [113.1, 484.3]

290 [143, 433.3]

257.7 [99.7, 526.7]

0.568

Total cholesterol (mg/dL)

133.7±35.4

135.1±39.6

132.4±30.8

0.664

LDL-cholesterol (mg/dL)

72.3±23.7

72.4±26.4

72.1±20.8

0.943

C-reactive protein (mg/L)

1.4 [0.7, 3.2]

1.5 [1.0, 2.9]

1.2 [0.6, 3.3]

0.311

LVH (%)

78 (77.2)

40 (75.5)

38 (79.2)

0.658

LVSD (%)

18 (13.5)

14 (25.9)

4 (8.0)

0.016

LVDD (%)

53 (39.8)

26 (52.0)

27 (55.1)

0.757