Table 1.
Baseline demographic and laboratory characteristics of HD patients stratified by serum bilirubin tertiles
| Parameters | Serum Bilirubin Tertiles |
P | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower (n = 221) | Middle (n = 220) | Upper (n = 220) | ||
| Age, years | 58.8 ± 13.9 | 58.8 ± 12.8 | 57.5 ± 13.4 | 0.469a |
| Male gender, n (%) | 114 (51.5) | 107 (48.6) | 114 (51.8) | 0.758b |
| Current smoker, n (%) | 76 (34.3) | 61 (27.7) | 74 (33.6) | 0.260b |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 131 (59.3) | 127 (57.7) | 120 (54.5) | 0.592b |
| Diabetes mellitus, n (%) | 72 (32.6) | 71 (32.3) | 63 (28.6) | 0.632b |
| Previous CV disease, n (%) | 65 (29.4) | 58 (26.3) | 73 (33.1) | 0.277b |
| HD duration, months | 75.3 ± 57.6 | 72.1 ± 60.7 | 73.4 ± 62.8 | 0.254a |
| Kt/V urea | 1.81 ± 0.44 | 1.85 ± 0.66 | 1.83 ± 0.48 | 0.735a |
| Cholesterol, mg/dl | 173 ± 38 | 172 ± 35 | 172 ± 37 | 0.993a |
| Triglyceride, mg/dl | 175 ± 111 | 172 ± 112 | 179 ± 124 | 0.381a |
| HDL-cholesterol, mg/dl | 40 ± 12 | 38 ± 10 | 38 ± 12 | 0.877a |
| LDL-cholesterol, mg/dl | 113 ± 28 | 112 ± 29 | 110 ± 29 | 0.702a |
| Systolic BP, mmHg | 144 ± 22 | 145 ± 29 | 145 ± 22 | 0.851a |
| Diastolic BP, mmHg | 79 ± 12 | 78 ± 10 | 77 ± 11 | 0.727a |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 21.5 ± 2.8 | 22.0 ± 3.6 | 22.2 ± 2.9 | 0.065a |
| hsCRP, mg/L | 3.89 (1.03, 8.02) | 3.46 (0.95, 7.07) | 2.92 (0.73, 6.15) | 0.012c |
| Albumin, g/dl | 3.79 ± 0.36 | 3.95 ± 0.32 | 4.01 ± 0.32 | <0.001a |
| Hemoglobin, g/dl | 9.7 ± 1.0 | 10.3 ± 1.1 | 11.8 ± 1.0 | <0.001a |
| Dose of epoetin, U/kg per week | 69 ± 41 | 68 ± 40 | 70 ± 43 | 0.920a |
| Ferritin, μg/L | 393 (246, 737) | 396 (224, 638) | 307 (148, 478) | <0.001c |
| Transferrin saturation, % | 32 ± 14 | 33 ± 16 | 33 ± 15 | 0.635a |
| Serum bilirubin, mg/dl | 0.59 ± 0.09 | 0.76 ± 0.04 | 0.99 ± 0.25 | <0.001a |
Values in bold are statistically significant. Statistical analysis by aANOVA test,
b
the Pearson χ2 test, and
c
the Kruskal–Wallis test.