Table 1.
Characteristics of 40,615 US Medicare beneficiaries ≥65 years of age at admission to a SNF after inpatient initiation of dialysis between 2000 and 2006
| Characteristics | n (%) |
|---|---|
| Demographic characteristics | |
| Age, mean (SD), yr | 77.4 (6.7) |
| Women | 22,001 (54.5) |
| Race | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 2205 (5.5) |
| White | 31,372 (77.9) |
| Black | 7656 (19.0) |
| American Indian/Alaskan | 276 (0.7) |
| Asian | 560 (1.4) |
| Other | 428 (1.1) |
| Medicaid | 8789 (21.8) |
| Region of residence | |
| Northeast | 10,046 (24.8) |
| South | 10,797 (26.6) |
| Midwest | 14,582 (36.0) |
| West | 5131 (12.7) |
| Lived alonea | 12,464 (30.8) |
| Marital statusa | |
| Never married | 3284 (8.1) |
| Married | 15,739 (39.0) |
| Widowed | 17,536 (43.4) |
| Separated | 659 (1.6) |
| Divorced | 3173 (7.9) |
| Health characteristics | |
| Primary cause of renal failure | |
| Diabetes | 17,061 (42.3) |
| GN | 1421 (3.5) |
| Secondary GN/vasculitis | 430 (1.1) |
| Interstitial nephritis | 1451 (3.6) |
| Hypertension/large vessel | 14,069 (34.9) |
| Cystic/hereditary/congenital | 201 (0.5) |
| Neoplasms/tumors | 914 (2.3) |
| Other | 4817 (11.9) |
| Cardiovascular conditions | |
| Congestive heart failure | 20,468 (50.7) |
| Atherosclerotic heart disease | 15,651 (38.8) |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 6612 (16.4) |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 9033 (22.4) |
| Other | 9916 (24.6) |
| Other comorbid conditionsa | |
| Arthritis | 7293 (18.0) |
| Hip fracture | 1034 (2.6) |
| Missing limb | 2030 (5.0) |
| Alzheimer disease | 653 (1.6) |
| Dementia other than Alzheimer disease | 4009 (9.9) |
| Emphysema/COPD | 8617 (21.2) |
| Cancer | 4125 (10.2) |
| Serum albumin, g/dlb | 2.9 (0.6) |
| Serum creatinine, mg/dlb | 5.6 (2.6) |
| Hemoglobin, g/dlb | 10.0 (1.6) |
| Treatment characteristics | |
| Primary type of dialysis | |
| Hemodialysis | 39,974 (99.1) |
| CAPD | 240 (0.6) |
| CCPD | 101 (0.3) |
| Other | 29 (0.1) |
| Predialysis nephrology carec | 4398 (51.2) |
| Individual nondisease-specific problemsa | |
| Cognitive impairment | 7818 (19.3) |
| Depressive symptoms | 12,865 (31.7) |
| Exhaustion | 20,703 (51.0) |
| Falls | 10,199 (25.1) |
| Impaired mobility | 27,504 (67.7) |
| Polypharmacy (≥14 medications) | 13,034 (32.1) |
| Number of nondisease-specific problemsa | |
| 0 | 2472 (6.1) |
| 1 | 8749 (21.5) |
| 2 | 12,922 (31.8) |
| 3 | 10,107 (24.9) |
| 4–6 | 6365 (15.7) |
COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CAPD, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis; CCPD, continuous cycling peritoneal dialysis; CMS, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
a
Patient characteristics from the CMS Minimum Data Set. All other characteristics obtained from the CMS-2728.
b
Data is presented as mean (SD).
c
Available on the 2005 version of the CMS-2728 for 8590 patients.