Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of patients initiating SZC
| All patients (N = 589) | Optimized RAASia (N = 456) | Did not optimize RAASib (N = 133) | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | ||||
| Age on index date (years), mean ± SD | 61.02 ± 12.97 | 60.82 ± 12.81 | 61.70 ± 13.53 | 0.45 |
| Female gender, n (%) | 205 (34.8%) | 165 (36.2%) | 40 (30.1%) | 0.23 |
| Claims payer, n (%) | 0.06 | |||
| Commercial or unknown | 274 (46.5%) | 219 (48.0%) | 55 (41.4%) | |
| Medicaid | 138 (23.4%) | 111 (24.3%) | 27 (20.3%) | |
| Medicare advantage | 177 (30.1%) | 126 (27.6%) | 51 (38.3%) | |
| Region, n (%) | 0.71 | |||
| Midwest | 81 (13.8%) | 63 (13.8%) | 18 (13.5%) | |
| Northeast | 133 (22.6%) | 101 (22.1%) | 32 (24.1%) | |
| South | 214 (36.3%) | 170 (37.3%) | 44 (33.1%) | |
| West | 156 (26.5%) | 117 (25.7%) | 39 (29.3%) | |
| Other | 5 (0.8%) | 5 (1.1%) | 0 (0.0%) | |
| HK | ||||
| HK diagnosis during baseline, n (%) | 359 (61.0%) | 268 (58.8%) | 91 (68.4%) | 0.06 |
| Comorbidities, n (%) | ||||
| CKD stages 3–5 | 398 (67.6%) | 314 (68.9%) | 84 (63.2%) | 0.26 |
| ESKDc | 117 (19.9%) | 86 (18.9%) | 31 (23.3%) | 0.31 |
| Congestive heart failure | 149 (25.3%) | 114 (25.0%) | 35 (26.3%) | 0.85 |
| Coronary artery disease | 154 (26.1%) | 112 (24.6%) | 42 (31.6%) | 0.13 |
| Diabetes | 413 (70.1%) | 316 (69.3%) | 97 (72.9%) | 0.49 |
| Hypertension | 538 (91.3%) | 416 (91.2%) | 122 (91.7%) | 1.00 |
| Prior treatment, n (%) | ||||
| HK treatments | ||||
| Patiromer | 106 (18.0%) | 85 (18.6%) | 21 (15.8%) | 0.53 |
| Sodium polystyrene sulfonate | 92 (15.6%) | 66 (14.5%) | 26 (19.5%) | 0.20 |
| Loop diuretics | 250 (42.4%) | 185 (40.6%) | 65 (48.9%) | 0.11 |
| Thiazides and thiazide-like diuretics | 96 (16.3%) | 75 (16.4%) | 21 (15.8%) | 0.96 |
| Other treatments | ||||
| Beta blockers | 367 (62.3%) | 284 (62.3%) | 83 (62.4%) | 1.00 |
| NSAIDs | 51 (8.7%) | 40 (8.8%) | 11 (8.3%) | 1.00 |
| All-cause HRU | ||||
| Any inpatient stays, n (%) | 153 (26.0%) | 106 (23.2%) | 47 (35.3%) | < 0.01 |
| Number of inpatient stays, mean ± SD | 0.44 ± 0.93 | 0.38 ± 0.83 | 0.65 ± 1.19 | < 0.01 |
| Any ED visits, n (%) | 178 (30.2%) | 122 (26.8%) | 56 (42.1%) | < 0.01 |
| Number of ED visits, mean ± SD | 0.49 ± 1.00 | 0.41 ± 0.95 | 0.74 ± 1.13 | < 0.001 |
| Any outpatient visits, n (%) | 545 (92.5%) | 425 (93.2%) | 120 (90.2%) | 0.34 |
| Number of outpatient visits, mean ± SD | 14.66 ± 16.68 | 13.86 ± 15.15 | 17.41 ± 20.94 | < 0.05 |
Baseline was the 6-month period prior to the initiation of SZC
CKD chronic kidney disease; ED emergency department; ESKD end-stage kidney disease; HK hyperkalemia; HRU healthcare resource utilization; NSAID non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug; SD standard deviation; SZC sodium zirconium cyclosilicate
aOptimized RAASi included patients with the same dose or with an up-titration
bNon-optimized RAASi included patients who discontinued or with a down-titration
cESKD was identified using ICD-10 diagnosis codes for ESKD or an ICD-10 diagnosis code for CKD stage 5 + a procedure code for dialysis