Table 3.

Multivariate analysis: Baseline associations of transfusion^a

Parameter	Transfusions as Rates		Time to First Transfusion
	Rate Ratio	P	Hazards Ratio	P
Target 13.5 to 14.5 g/dl	0.36 (0.29, 0.46)	<0.0001	0.42 (0.26, 0.67)	0.0003
Hemoglobin ≤11.1 g/dl	1.93 (1.54, 2.43)	<0.0001	1.48 (0.93, 2.34)	0.01
Epoetin dose >6000 U/wk	2.28 (1.85, 2.82)	<0.0001	1.63 (1.03, 2.56)	0.04
Transferrin saturation ≤32.0%	1.87 (1.51, 2.32)	<0.0001	1.55 (0.99, 2.41)	0.05
Age >51.5 yr	0.85 (0.69, 1.06)	0.14	0.79 (0.50, 1.24)	0.30
Female sex	0.59 (0.47, 0.73)	<0.0001	0.89 (0.57, 1.40)	0.62
Non-White race	1.02 (0.75, 1.38)	0.91	0.73 (0.35, 1.50)	0.39
Dialysis duration >9.0 mo	1.85 (1.50, 2.28)	<0.0001	1.56 (1.00, 2.42)	0.049
Body mass index >25.5 kg/m2	0.71 (0.58, 0.87)	0.001	0.84 (0.54, 1.31)	0.45
Renal disease due to diabetes	1.16 (0.89, 1.52)	0.28	1.21 (0.69, 2.14)	0.50
Europe	1.89 (1.44, 2.49)	<0.000	1.11 (0.65, 1.90)	0.69
Dialysis catheter	2.01 (1.32, 3.07)	0.001	1.38 (0.56, 3.40)	0.48
Serum albumin ≤4.0 mg/dl	1.37 (1.09, 1.72)	0.007	1.63 (0.98, 2.72)	0.06

^a95% confidence intervals are reported in parentheses. Poisson regression was used to calculate rate ratios for transfusion and proportional hazards regression to compute hazards ratio for the time to first transfusion. All of the variables shown in the first column were included simultaneously in multivariate models. Median values of the overall study population were used to categorize hemoglobin, epoetin dose, transferrin saturation, dialysis duration, age, body mass index, and serum albumin.