Table 1 Demographic and clinical characteristics of HD incident patients, by period of incidence in HD

Gender

0.241

 Male

1,469

63.4

1,478

64.4

1,568

65.7

4,515

64.5

 Female

848

36.6

817

35.6

817

34.3

2,482

35.5

Age (years)

0.452

 < 65

782

33.8

759

33.1

830

34.8

2,371

33.9

 ≥ 65

1,535

66.3

1,536

66.9

1,555

65.2

4,626

66.1

Site of birth

< 0.001

 Italy

2,155

93.0

2,108

91.9

2,151

90.2

6,414

91.7

 Other countries

162

7.0

187

8.2

234

9.8

583

8.3

Residence

0.825

 Rome Municipality

1,149

49.6

1,149

50.1

1,216

51.0

3,514

50.2

 Rome Province

557

24.0

560

24.4

554

23.2

1,671

23.9

 Other Lazio’s municipalities

611

26.4

586

25.5

615

25.8

1,812

25.9

Education level

< 0.001

 Up to Middle School

1,622

70.0

1,520

66.2

1,504

63.1

4,646

66.4

 High School or more

695

30.0

775

33.8

881

36.9

2,351

33.6

Body Mass Index (Kg/m ² )

0.083

 Underweight (BMI < 18.0)

106

4.6

117

5.1

128

5.4

351

5.0

 Normal weight (18.0 ≤ BMI < 25.0)

1,221

52.7

1,175

51.2

1,164

48.8

3,560

50.9

 Overweight (25.0 ≤ BMI < 30.0)

691

29.8

661

28.8

742

31.1

2,094

29.9

 Obese (BMI ≥ 30.0)

299

12.9

342

14.9

351

14.7

992

14.2

Self-sufficiency

< 0.001

 Total autonomy

839

36.2

1,028

44.8

1,348

56.5

3,215

45.9

 Autonomy in some activities

864

37.3

755

32.9

552

23.1

2,171

31.0

 Not self-sufficient

614

26.5

512

22.3

485

20.3

1,611

23.0

Nephropathy

< 0.001

 Renal vascular disease

586

25.3

567

24.7

508

21.3

1,661

23.7

 Diabetic nephropathy

575

24.8

527

23.0

525

22.0

1,627

23.3

 Glomerulonephritis

204

8.8

182

7.9

190

8.0

576

8.2

 Cystic renal disease and familial nephropathy

149

6.4

162

7.1

164

6.9

475

6.8

 Interstitial and toxic nephritis/pyelonephriti

133

5.7

135

5.9

123

5.2

391

5.6

 Systemic disease

82

3.5

58

2.5

70

2.9

210

3.0

 Renal malformation

12

0.5

14

0.6

6

0.3

32

0.5

 Other nephropathies

83

3.6

99

4.3

132

5.5

314

4.5

 Unknown

493

21.3

551

24.0

667

28.0

1,711

24.5

Comorbidity

 Severe hypertension

1,478

63.8

1,524

66.4

1,665

69.8

4,667

66.7

< 0.001

 Heart disease

854

36.9

862

37.6

859

36.0

2,575

36.8

0.548

 Diabetes

605

26.1

661

28.8

690

28.9

1,956

28.0

0.054

 Peripheral vascular diseases

359

15.5

351

15.3

327

13.7

1,037

14.8

0.168

 Cerebrovascular disease

301

13.0

350

15.3

321

13.5

972

13.9

0.064

 COPD

316

13.6

319

13.9

336

14.1

971

13.9

0.905

 Cancer

227

9.8

236

10.3

296

12.4

759

10.8

0.009

 Thyroid disease

138

6.0

153

6.7

230

9.6

521

7.4

< 0.001

 Obesity

138

6.0

165

7.2

198

8.3

501

7.2

0.008

 Lipid metabolism’s alteration

151

6.5

153

6.7

166

7.0

470

6.7

0.826

 Liver disease

84

3.6

82

3.6

86

3.6

252

3.6

0.995

 Motor deficit

66

2.9

79

3.4

74

3.1

219

3.1

0.509

 Dementia and Psychiatric disease

63

2.7

63

2.8

89

3.7

215

3.1

0.072

 Extrauremic anemia

68

2.9

56

2.4

62

2.6

186

2.7

0.566

 Malnutrition

35

1.5

53

2.3

50

2.1

138

2.0

0.129

Drugs use

 Diabetes drugs

596

25.7

643

28.0

633

26.5

1,872

26.8

0.204

 Hypertensive drugs

1,932

83.4

1,948

84.9

2,039

85.5

5,919

84.6

0.121

 Other cardiovascular drugs

1,502

64.8

1,508

65.7

1,550

65.0

4,560

65.2

0.799

 Anti-anaemic drugs

2,072

89.4

2,041

88.9

2,115

88.7

6,228

89.0

0.708

Vascular access

< 0.001

 CVC

988

42.6

1,117

48.7

1,258

52.8

3,363

48.1

 FAV

1,329

57.4

1,178

51.3

1,127

47.3

3,634

51.9

Type of dialysis centre

< 0.001

 Public

1,238

53.4

1,100

47.9

1,228

51.5

3,566

51.0

 Private

1,079

46.6

1,195

52.1

1,157

48.5

3,431

49.0

Pre-dialysis counselling

< 0.001

 Yes

1,808

78.0

1,816

79.1

1,711

71.7

5,335

76.2

 No

509

22.0

479

20.9

674

28.3

1,662

23.8

Laboratory findings

mean [IQR]

mean [IQR]

mean [IQR]

mean [IQR]

p-value^

 HB (g/dL)

10.4 [9.4–11.2]

10.3 [9.4–11.2]

10.2 [9.1–11.0]

10.2 [9.1–11.0]

< 0.001

 Calcium (mg/dL)

8.7 [8.2–9.2]

8.7 [8.2–9.1]

8.7 [8.2–9.1]

8.7 [8.2–9.1]

0.025

 Serum creatinine (mg/dL)

7.0 [5.4–8.2]

6.7 [5.1–7.9]

6.8 [5.1-8.0]

6.8 [5.1-8.0]

< 0.001

 Serum phosphate level (mg/dL)

5.1 [4.2–5.9]

5.0 [4-5.8]

4.9 [4.0-5.7]

4.9 [4.0-5.7]

< 0.001

 Serum albumin (mg/dL)

3.7 [3.4-4.0]

3.6 [3.3-4]

3.5 [3.2–3.9]

3.5 [3.2–3.9]

< 0.001