Table 1.
Characteristics of the study population
| Variable | Total | Alb <2.5 g/dL | Alb 2.5–2.99 g/dL | Alb 3–3.99 g/dL | Alb ≥4 g/dL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patients, n (%) | 7037 (100) | 387 (5.5) | 533 (7.6) | 3626 (51.5) | 2491 (5.4) |
| Male, n (%) | 6728 (96) | 375 (97) | 513 (96) | 3456 (95) | 2384 (96) |
| Age, years (mean ± SD) | 57 ± 11 | 57 ± 12 | 57 ± 11 | 58 ± 10 | 58 ± 11 |
| African-American, n (%) | 2177 (32) | 173 (45) | 199 (38) | 1185 (33) | 620 (26) |
| Diabetes, n (%) | 4245 (60) | 220 (57) | 349 (65) | 2314 (64) | 1362 (55) |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 5929 (84) | 337 (87) | 464 (87) | 3126 (86) | 2002 (80) |
| Cardiovascular disease, n (%)a | 1240 (18) | 77 (20) | 114 (21) | 669 (18) | 380 (15) |
| CHF, n (%) | 992 (14) | 125 (32) | 154 (29) | 534 (15) | 179 (7) |
| PVD, n (%) | 960 (14) | 71 (18) | 106 (20) | 516 (14) | 267 (11) |
| CVA, n (%) | 707 (10) | 56 (14) | 69 (13) | 377 (10) | 205 (8) |
| Cause of NS (%) | |||||
| Primary glomerulonephritis | 1810 (26) | 96 (24) | 116 (22) | 849 (24) | 749 (30) |
| Diabetic nephropathy | 3671 (52) | 190 (49) | 315 (59) | 2022 (56) | 1144 (46) |
| Unclassified NS | 1556 (22) | 101 (26) | 102 (19) | 755 (21) | 598 (24) |
| Malignancy, n (%) | 802 (11) | 59 (15) | 71 (13) | 437 (12) | 235 (9) |
| Anticoagulation use, n (%) | 3884 (55) | 173 (45) | 293 (55) | 2159 (60) | 1259 (51) |
| eGFR, mL/min/1.73/m2 (mean ± SD) | 83 ± 17 | 85 ± 17 | 84 ± 17 | 83 ± 17 | 83 ± 16 |
| BMI, kg/m2 (mean ± SD) | 30 ± 6 | 27 ± 6 | 29 ± 6 | 31 ± 6 | 30 ± 5 |
| Charlson comorbidity index (mean ± SD) | 5 ± 3 | 4 ± 3 | 3 ± 2 | 5 ± 3 | 2 ± 2 |
Alb, albumin; SD, standard deviation; CHF, congestive heart failure; PVD, peripheral vascular disease; CVA, cerebrovascular accident; NS, nephrotic syndrome; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; BMI, body mass index.
aCardiovascular disease was defined as acute myocardial infarction, angina, coronary artery disease, previous coronary artery bypass grafting or percutaneous coronary intervention.