Table V.

Variables from the multivariable analyses; hazard ratio (HR) and confidence interval (CI). * = p < 0.05, ** = p < 0.01, *** = p < 0.001.

	Beta value	HR	CI	p-value
S-K	0.7717	2.16	1.56–2.99	0.0000***
Abdominal tenderness	0.5356	1.71	1.16–2.52	0.0071**
Alcohol use	–0.3449	0.71	0.56–0.89	0.0037**
S-AST	0.0961	1.10	1.05–1.16	0.0001***

Besides the variables above, the hazard function includes a constant and four variables, which are functions of updated time since start of follow-up and of age.