Table 4.

Hazard ratios for first-year mortality by number of KDOQI guideline goals met at dialysis initiation

Guideline Goals at Initiation	HR (CI) Unadjusted	P	HR (CI) Adjusted	P
Number meta
0	1		1
1	0.79 (0.78 to 0.81)	<0.0001	0.81 (0.80 to 0.83)	<0.0001
2	0.45 (0.43 to 0.47)	<0.0001	0.53 (0.51 to 0.56)	<0.0001
3	0.26 (0.23 to 0.30)	<0.0001	0.34 (0.30 to 0.39)	<0.0001
Arteriovenous fistula or arteriovenous graftb	0.43 (0.42 to 0.45)	<0.0001	0.56 (0.54 to 0.58)	<0.0001
Hemoglobin at goalb,c	0.94 (0.92 to 0.96)	<0.0001	0.94 (0.92 to 0.96)	<0.0001
Albumin at goalb,d	0.52 (0.50 to 0.54)	<0.0001	0.67 (0.65 to 0.70)	<0.0001

^aCox proportional hazards models adjusted for age, sex, race, body mass index, smoking, alcohol use, drug dependence, cause of end-stage renal disease, functional status (inability to ambulate or transfer, assistance with activities of daily living, institutionalization, employment at the time of end-stage renal disease onset), comorbid conditions (history of atherosclerotic heart disease, congestive heart failure, cerebrovascular accident, peripheral vascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer), and predialysis nephrology and dietitian care.

^bCox proportional hazards models adjusted for the above variables with arteriovenous fistula or graft used at initiation, hemoglobin > 11 g/dl, and albumin at goal replacing the “number of guidelines achieved at initiation” variable.

^cGoal: Hemoglobin > 11 g/dl.

^dGoal: Albumin ≥ 4.0 g/dl when the method of measurement was bromcresol green or unspecified or ≥3.7 g/dl when the method of measurement was bromcresol purple.