Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of patients with Medicare initiating dialysis according to dialysis modality and facility profit status
| Characteristic | Hemodialysis (n=140,665) | Peritoneal Dialysis (n=9977) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| For-Profit (n=128,576) | Nonprofit (n=12,089) | P Value | For-Profit (n=9081) | Nonprofit (n=896) | P Value | |
| Region | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| Midwest | 28,925 (22) | 3270 (27) | 2286 (25) | 190 (21) | ||
| Northeast | 19,766 (15) | 1958 (16) | 1098 (12) | 101 (11) | ||
| South | 59,468 (46) | 3981 (33) | 4264 (47) | 298 (33) | ||
| West | 20,417 (16) | 2880 (24) | 1433 (16) | 307 (34) | ||
| Age (yr) | 65.5±14.8 | 65.4±14.9 | 0.77 | 61.2±15.8 | 60.9±15.7 | 0.56 |
| Male | 69,685 (54) | 6688 (55) | 0.02 | 5029 (55) | 511 (57) | 0.34 |
| Race | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| White | 83,833 (65) | 7883 (65) | 6908 (76) | 647 (72) | ||
| Black | 38,959 (30) | 3514 (29) | 1745 (19) | 176 (20) | ||
| Asian | 3140 (2) | 383 (3) | 220 (2) | 49 (5) | ||
| Native American | 1366 (1) | 200 (2) | 103 (1) | 13 (1) | ||
| Pacific Islander | 849 (1) | 68 (1) | 68 (1) | 8 (1) | ||
| Multiracial, other, unknown | 429 (0.3) | 41 (0.3) | 37 (0.4) | 3 (0.3) | ||
| Hispanic | 16,888 (13) | 830 (7) | <0.001 | 1073 (12) | 53 (6) | <0.001 |
| Medicare and Medicaid dual eligibility | 50,653 (39) | 4786 (40) | 0.68 | 2606 (29) | 243 (27) | 0.32 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 28.7±8.0 | 28.4±7.8 | <0.001 | 28.4±6.9 | 28.1±6.9 | 0.18 |
| Tobacco use, current smoker | 8083 (6) | 1032 (9) | <0.001 | 650 (7) | 75 (8) | 0.18 |
| Diabetes | 76,999 (60) | 7077 (59) | <0.01 | 4812 (53) | 469 (52) | 0.71 |
| Atherosclerotic heart disease | 30,095(23) | 3276 (27) | <0.001 | 1752 (19) | 197 (22) | 0.05 |
| Cerebrovascular accident or transient ischemic attack | 13,795 (11) | 1572 (13) | <0.001 | 658 (7) | 67 (7) | 0.80 |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 20,354 (16) | 2096 (17) | <0.001 | 1088 (12) | 115 (13) | 0.45 |
| Congestive heart failure | 47,249 (37) | 4523 (37) | 0.15 | 2169 (24) | 207 (23) | 0.60 |
| Amputation | 4319 (3) | 480 (4) | <0.001 | 177 (2) | 16 (2) | 0.73 |
| Hypertension | 113,546 (88) | 10,740 (89) | 0.08 | 8015 (88) | 784 (88) | 0.50 |
| Cancer | 9284 (7) | 1108 (9) | <0.001 | 496 (5) | 58 (6) | 0.21 |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 12,554 (10) | 1455 (12) | <0.001 | 556 (6) | 52 (6) | 0.70 |
| Etiology of renal disease | <0.001 | 0.20 | ||||
| Diabetes | 61,276 (48) | 5544 (46) | 3993 (44) | 398 (44) | ||
| Hypertension | 39,850 (31) | 3566 (29) | 2624 (29) | 239 (27) | ||
| GN | 6853 (5) | 766 (6) | 961 (11) | 86 (10) | ||
| Cystic kidney | 1803 (1) | 209 (2) | 341 (4) | 41 (5) | ||
| Other or unknown | 18,794 (15) | 2004 (17) | 1162 (13) | 132 (15) | ||
| Inability to ambulate or transfer | 9179 (7) | 1074 (9) | <0.001 | 172 (2) | 14 (2) | 0.48 |
| Institutionalization | <0.001 | 0.86 | ||||
| Assisted living | 892 (1) | 142 (1) | 18 (0.2) | 2 (0.2) | ||
| Nursing home | 8655 (7) | 948 (8) | 75 (1) | 5 (1) | ||
| Other | 530 (0.4) | 73 (0.6) | 11 (0.1) | 1 (0.1) | ||
| Prior nephrology care (mo) | <0.001 | <0.01 | ||||
| <6 | 13,147 (10) | 1443 (12) | 1245 (14) | 129 (14) | ||
| 6–12 | 30,795 (24) | 2987 (25) | 2708 (30) | 247 (28) | ||
| >12 | 29,171 (23) | 3386 (28) | 3210 (35) | 367 (41) | ||
| Unknown | 15,894 (12) | 909 (8) | 544 (6) | 34 (4) | ||
| Hemoglobin (g/dl) | 10.0±1.7 | 10.1±1.7 | 0.52 | 10.7±1.7 | 10.6±1.8 | 0.84 |
| Estimated GFR (ml/min per 1.73 m2) | 11.1±5.7 | 10.9±5.5 | <0.001 | 10.9±5.1 | 11.0±5.5 | 0.66 |
| Albumin (g/dl) | 0.28 | 0.86 | ||||
| <2.5 | 17,639 (14) | 1613 (13) | 522 (6) | 45 (5) | ||
| 2.5–2.9 | 21,364 (17) | 2048 (17) | 906 (10) | 93 (10) | ||
| 3.0–3.4 | 27,208 (21) | 2563 (21) | 1622 (18) | 148 (17) | ||
| 3.5–3.9 | 21,882 (17) | 2149 (18) | 2247 (25) | 212 (24) | ||
| ≥4.0 | 10,340 (8) | 1006 (8) | 1841 (20) | 181 (20) | ||
| Missing | 30,143 (23) | 2710 (22) | 1943 (21) | 217 (24) | ||
| Access typea | <0.001 | |||||
| Arteriovenous fistula | 17,330 (13) | 2052 (17) | ||||
| Arteriovenous graft | 5993 (5) | 549 (5) | ||||
| Catheter | 103,094 (80) | 9321 (77) | ||||
| Other | 1627 (1) | 104 (1) | ||||
| Missing | 532 (0.4) | 63 (0.5) | ||||
Data are presented as the mean ± SD or n (%).