Table 1.
Baseline clinical characteristics and outcomes among patients with different albumin levels.
| Characteristic | Normal (N = 424) |
Hypoalbuminemia | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mild (N = 198) | Severe (N = 78) | |||
| Median age, years (IQR) | 46.5 (37–60) | 50 (39–67) | 47.5 (36–70) | 0.012 |
| Male sex, N (%) | 273 (64.4) | 116 (58.6) | 46 (59.0) | 0.316 |
| Time from pain onset to admission (days) | 1.75 ± 0.77 | 1.88 ± 0.79 | 2.10 ± 0.82 | <0.001 |
| BMI ≥ 30, N (%) | 23 (5.4) | 12 (6.1) | 4 (5.1) | 0.934 |
| Etiology★ | ||||
| Biliary, N (%) | 198 (46.7) | 87 (43.7) | 23 (30.0) | 0.024 |
| Alcohol, N (%) | 56 (13.2) | 29 (14.6) | 11 (14.3) | 0.888 |
| Hypertriglyceridemia, N (%) | 21 (5.0) | 8 (4.0) | 8 (10.1) | 0.094 |
| Idiopathic, N (%) | 145 (34.2) | 68 (34.2) | 33 (42.9) | 0.323 |
| Other, N (%) | 9 (2.1) | 9 (4.5) | 4 (5.2) | 0.153 |
| Chronic concomitant diseases◆ | 240 (56.6) | 116 (58.3) | 53 (68.8) | 0.134 |
| Neurologic, N (%) | 4 (0.9) | 1 (0.5) | 5 (0.5) | 0.004 |
| Cardiovascular, N (%) | 13 (3.1) | 13 (6.5) | 4 (5.2) | 0.126 |
| Pulmonary, N (%) | 5 (1.2) | 4 (2.0) | 2 (2.6) | 0.385 |
| Diabetes mellitus, N (%) | 66 (15.6) | 27 (13.6) | 12 (15.6) | 0.800 |
| Hypertension, N (%) | 92 (21.7) | 48 (24.1) | 20 (26.0) | 0.365 |
| Hepatitis virus carrier, N (%) | 16 (3.8) | 7 (3.5) | 2 (2.6) | 0.721 |
| Fatty liver, N (%) | 162 (38.2) | 63 (31.7) | 27 (35.1) | 0.279 |
| Laboratory findings | ||||
| Hematocrit | 0.43 (0.38–0.46) | 0.41 (0.37–0.45) | 0.40 (0.37–0.45) | 0.001 |
| Bilirubin, mg/dL (IQR) | 1.17 (0.82–1.70) | 1.23 (0.82–1.81) | 1.053 (0.64–1.81) | 0.805 |
| ALT, U/L (IQR) | 43 (21–160) | 34 (16–92) | 36 (19–57) | 0.001 |
| Glucose, mg/dL (IQR) | 139 (114–182) | 150 (119–200) | 171 (117–216) | 0.003 |
| BUN, mg/dL (IQR) | 12.7 (10.1–16.2) | 15.1 (11.2–19.6) | 16.0 (10.6–29.4) | <0.001 |
| Outcomes | ||||
| Median hospital days (IQR) | 9 (7–12) | 11 (8–14) | 13 (9–21) | <0.001 |
| Organ failure N (%) | 15 (3.5) | 20 (10.1) | 33 (42.3) | <0.001 |
| Death, N (%) | 1 (0.2) | 3 (1.5) | 7 (9.0) | <0.001 |
★Subjects may have more than one etiology. ◆Subjects may have more than one chronic concomitant disease.