Table 1.
Baseline Characteristics
| Facility Profit Status | ||||||
| Characteristic | All, 100.0% N = 205,076 | Not-For-Profit, 20.1% n = 41,307 | For-Profit, 79.9% n = 163,769 | P* | AOR For-Profit (95% CI) | P† |
| Facility affiliation | < 0.0001 | |||||
| Freestanding | 12.9 | 41.4 | 98.6 | Reference | - | |
| Hospital-based | 87.1 | 58.6 | 1.4 | 0.01 (0.01–0.01) | < 0.0001 | |
| Year of dialysis inception | < 0.0001 | |||||
| 1998 | 14.7 | 18.5 | 13.7 | Reference | - | |
| 1999 | 15.4 | 17.6 | 14.8 | 1.16 (1.10–1.23) | < 0.0001 | |
| 2000 | 16.6 | 17.8 | 16.3 | 1.12 (1.06–1.19) | < 0.0001 | |
| 2001 | 17.0 | 16.0 | 17.3 | 1.06 (1.00–1.12) | 0.032 | |
| 2002 | 17.8 | 15.6 | 18.3 | 0.87 (0.83–0.92) | < 0.0001 | |
| 2003 | 18.4 | 14.4 | 19.5 | 0.89 (0.85–0.94) | < 0.0001 | |
| Age group (years) | < 0.0001 | |||||
| ≤ 40 | 7.1 | 7.7 | 7.0 | Reference | - | |
| 40 to 65 | 33.7 | 32.1 | 34.1 | 1.10 (1.04–1.17) | 0.002 | |
| > 65 | 59.1 | 60.2 | 58.9 | 1.14 (1.06–1.22) | 0.0002 | |
| Sex | < 0.0001 | |||||
| Male | 52.0 | 53.3 | 51.7 | 0.98 (0.95–1.01) | 0.280 | |
| Female | 48.0 | 46.7 | 48.3 | Reference | - | |
| Race | < 0.0001 | |||||
| White | 62.6 | 64.9 | 62.0 | Reference | - | |
| Black | 32.4 | 29.1 | 33.2 | 0.91 (0.88–0.95) | 0.001 | |
| Other | 5.1 | 5.9 | 4.8 | 0.96 (0.90–1.03) | 0.297 | |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | < 0.0001 | |||||
| < 18.5 | 5.9 | 6.4 | 5.8 | 0.90 (0.84–0.96) | 0.001 | |
| 18.5 to < 25 | 38.7 | 39.0 | 38.6 | Reference | - | |
| 25 to < 30 | 28.3 | 28.2 | 28.3 | 1.02 (0.98–1.06) | 0.358 | |
| ≥ 30 | 27.1 | 26.4 | 27.3 | 1.04 (1.00–1.08) | 0.074 | |
| Employment status | < 0.0001 | |||||
| Employed | 10.4 | 10.6 | 10.3 | Reference | - | |
| Unemployed | 43.7 | 41.1 | 44.4 | 0.96 (0.91–1.01) | 0.093 | |
| Retired | 45.9 | 48.4 | 45.3 | 0.89 (0.84–0.94) | < 0.0001 | |
| Cause of ESRD | < 0.0001 | |||||
| Diabetes mellitus | 48.7 | 47.6 | 49.0 | Reference | - | |
| Hypertension | 30.8 | 28.4 | 31.4 | 1.09 (1.05–1.13) | < 0.0001 | |
| Glomerulonephritis | 7.9 | 9.1 | 7.6 | 0.91 (0.86–0.97) | 0.002 | |
| Other | 12.6 | 14.9 | 12.0 | 0.92 (0.87–0.96) | 0.0003 | |
| Hospitalization (days) | < 0.0001 | |||||
| 0 | 65.9 | 65.6 | 66.0 | Reference | - | |
| 0 to 5 | 15.6 | 15.1 | 15.7 | 1.04 (0.99–1.09) | 0.110 | |
| > 5 | 18.5 | 19.3 | 18.3 | 1.16 (1.10–1.22) | < 0.0001 | |
| Infectious hospitalization | 10.6 | 11.1 | 10.5 | 0.0011 | 0.94 (0.89–1.00) | 0.036 |
| Atherosclerotic heart disease | 40.1 | 42.8 | 39.4 | < 0.0001 | 0.93 (0.90–0.97) | 0.0001 |
| Congestive heart failure | 45.0 | 46.2 | 44.7 | < 0.0001 | 1.04 (1.00–1.07) | 0.043 |
| Stroke or TIA | 16.0 | 16.5 | 15.9 | 0.0043 | 0.98 (0.94–1.02) | 0.247 |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 27.5 | 29.4 | 27.1 | < 0.0001 | 0.99 (0.96–1.03) | 0.718 |
| Dysrhythmia | 18.8 | 20.5 | 18.3 | < 0.0001 | 0.91 (0.87–0.95) | < 0.0001 |
| Other cardiac disease | 13.1 | 13.5 | 13.0 | 0.0223 | 1.02 (0.98–1.07) | 0.347 |
| COPD | 14.0 | 15.4 | 13.6 | < 0.0001 | 0.88 (0.84–0.92) | < 0.0001 |
| Gastrointestinal disease | 4.3 | 4.7 | 4.1 | < 0.0001 | 0.96 (0.89–1.04) | 0.311 |
| Hepatic disease | 8.6 | 6.8 | 9.1 | < 0.0001 | 1.51 (1.42–1.60) | < 0.0001 |
| Cancer | 8.8 | 9.6 | 8.6 | < 0.0001 | 0.94 (0.89–0.99) | 0.022 |
| Clinical benchmarks | ||||||
| Urea reduction ratio (%) | < 0.0001 | |||||
| < 60 | 8.3 | 9.3 | 8.1 | 0.93 (0.87–0.99) | 0.019 | |
| 60 to < 65 | 11.7 | 12.0 | 11.7 | Reference | - | |
| 65 to < 70 | 21.7 | 20.0 | 22.1 | 1.20 (1.14–1.27) | < 0.0001 | |
| 70 to < 75 | 24.3 | 21.0 | 25.2 | 1.22 (1.16–1.29) | < 0.0001 | |
| ≥ 75 | 20.8 | 17.2 | 21.7 | 1.17 (1.11–1.24) | 0.0002 | |
| Unknown | 13.1 | 20.4 | 11.3 | - | - | |
| Hemoglobin (g/dL)‡ | < 0.0001 | |||||
| < 10 | 7.6 | 8.9 | 7.3 | 0.89 (0.84–0.95) | 0.0002 | |
| 10 to < 11 | 14.6 | 15.8 | 14.3 | 0.96 (0.92–1.01) | 0.080 | |
| 11 to < 12 | 28.7 | 28.7 | 28.6 | Reference | - | |
| 12 to < 13 | 24.9 | 20.3 | 26.1 | 1.23 (1.19–1.29) | < 0.0001 | |
| ≥ 13 | 13.3 | 9.3 | 14.3 | 1.66 (1.57–1.75) | < 0.0001 | |
| Unknown | 10.9 | 16.9 | 9.3 | - | - | |
| Epoetin dose quartiles | < 0.0001 | |||||
| (units/month) | ||||||
| < 35,766 | 22.3 | 23.3 | 22.0 | Reference | - | |
| 35,766 to < 58,200 | 22.4 | 22.3 | 22.4 | 0.96 (0.92–1.00) | 0.050 | |
| 58,200 to < 91,250 | 22.3 | 20.0 | 22.9 | 1.06 (1.02–1.11) | 0.009 | |
| ≥ 91,250 | 22.3 | 17.7 | 23.4 | 1.16 (1.10–1.21) | < 0.0001 | |
| Unknown | 10.8 | 16.7 | 9.3 | - | - | |
| Intravenous iron use | 71.1 | 60.1 | 73.9 | < 0.0001 | 1.23 (1.19–1.27) | < 0.0001 |
| Blood transfusion | 6.3 | 6.8 | 6.2 | < 0.0001 | 0.93 (0.87–0.99) | 0.025 |
| On transplant waiting list | 2.7 | 3.6 | 2.5 | < 0.0001 | 0.75 (0.69–0.82) | < 0.0001 |
Values are percentage of n in column head. AOR, adjusted odds ratio; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; ESRD, end-stage renal disease; TIA, transient ischemic attack.
*Compared using the χ2 test.
†Using multiple logistic regression, with adjustment for facility affiliation, year of dialysis inception, age group, sex, race, body mass index, employment status, cause of ESRD, days of hospitalization, infectious hospitalization, and comorbid conditions.
‡To convert hemoglobin in g/dL to g/L, multiply by 10.