Table 1.
Characteristics of older U.S. patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis with heparin on April 9 or 10, 2008.1
| Variable | |
|---|---|
| Patient Characteristics | N = 17,722 |
| Demographics | |
| Age (yr), mean ± SD | 76±6 |
| Male sex, N (%) | 9087 (51) |
| Race, N (%) | |
| Black | 5323 (30) |
| White | 11,354 (64) |
| Other | 1045 (6) |
| Hispanic ethnicity, N (%) | 2004 (11) |
| Reported comorbidities, N (%) | |
| Arrhythmia | 4803 (27) |
| Cancer | 2392 (13) |
| Coronary artery disease | 6576 (37) |
| Deep vein thrombosis | 1513 (9) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 10,593 (60) |
| Gastrointestinal bleeding | 1564 (9) |
| Heart failure | 9368 (53) |
| Hemorrhagic stroke | 152 (1) |
| Ischemic stroke | 3111 (18) |
| Liver disease | 765 (4) |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 6680 (38) |
| Pulmonary disease | 4178 (24) |
| Pulmonary embolism | 226 (1) |
| Warfarin use | 539 (3) |
| Vital signs and laboratory measurements | |
| Weight (kg), mean ± SD | 74 ± 17 |
| Pre-dialysis systolic blood pressure (mmHg), mean ± SD | 147 ± 26 |
| Hemoglobin (g/dL), mean ± SD | 11.9 ± 1.2 |
| Platelet count (x103/μL), median (25th–75th percentile) | 226 (180–281) |
| Albumin (g/dL), mean ± SD | 3.7 ± 0.4 |
| Kt/V2 | 1.7 ± 0.3 |
| Dialysis characteristics | |
| Vascular access, N (%) | |
| Central venous catheter | 4760 (27) |
| Fistula or graft | 12,963 (73) |
| Length of session (minutes), mean ± SD | 209 ± 26 |
| Reused dialyzer, N (%) | 11,365 (64) |
| Years on dialysis, median (25th–75th percentile) | 2.3 (1.1–4.3) |
| Facility characteristics | |
| Number of outpatient hemodialysis patients3, median (25th–75th percentile) | 76 (54–107) |
| Rural4, N (%) | 3343 (19) |
| Census division5, N (%) | |
| East North Central | 2505 (14) |
| East South Central | 920 (5) |
| Middle Atlantic | 1969 (11) |
| Mountain | 1018 (6) |
| New England | 700 (4) |
| Pacific | 2599 (15) |
| South Atlantic | 4848 (27) |
| West North Central | 1044 (6) |
| West South Central | 2119 (12) |
SD=Standard deviation
Variables are described using means and standard deviations for normally distributed continuous data, medians and 25th and 75th percentile values for non-normally distributed data, and counts and proportions for categorical data.
Kt/V is a measure of the adequacy of dialysis treatment. The National Kidney Foundation recommends that the Kt/V target for hemodialysis be ≥1.2.
Reflects the number of outpatient hemodialysis patients treated at a facility at the end of 2008, per the ESRD Facility Survey (form CMS-2744).
Facilities were considered urban if they were classified as a metropolitan area in the Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) Codes version 2.0, which are based on 2000 Census commuting data and 2004 zip codes; all other areas were considered to be rural.
Facilities were categorized into one of nine U.S. Census Bureau Divisions based on their state.31