Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the cohort
| All Dialysis Patients | All Wait-listed Patients | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HCV− (n=410,547) |
HCV+ (n=31,624) |
P value |
HCV− (n=31,944) |
HCV+ (n=2074) |
P value |
|
| Age, y | 64 (52–74) | 56 (50–63) | <0.001 | 53 (42–62) | 55 (49–60) | <0.001 |
| Male sex | 22,862 (54.4) | 20,847 (65.9) | <0.001 | 19,492 (61) | 1444 (69.6) | <0.001 |
| Race | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| Caucasian | 195,687 (47.7) | 8732 (27.6) | 11,471 (35.9) | 517 (24.9) | ||
| African-American | 119,325 (29.1) | 17,092 (54) | 11,627 (36.4) | 1171 (56.5) | ||
| Asian | 14,548 (3.5) | 629 (1.9) | 2183 (6.8) | 59 (2.8) | ||
| Latino | 60,002 (14.6) | 3853 (12.2) | 5942 (18.6) | 290 (14) | ||
| Other | 18,547 (4.5) | 1161 (3.6) | 721 (2.3) | 37 (1.8) | ||
| Missing | 2438 (0.6) | 157 (0.7) | 0 | 0 | ||
| Cause of ESRD | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| DM | 179,190 (43.6) | 12,601 (39.9) | 13,751 (43) | 803 (38.7) | ||
| HTN | 111,782 (27.2) | 10,175 (32.3) | 8509 (26.6) | 674 (32.5) | ||
| GN | 39,687 (9.7) | 3307 (10.4) | 4489 (14.1) | 262 (12.6) | ||
| PKD | 7215 (1.7) | 310 (0.9) | 909 (2.8) | 27 (1.3) | ||
| Other | 40,379 (9.8) | 2837 (8.9) | 2722 (8.5) | 185 (8.9) | ||
| Missing | 32,294 (8) | 2394 (7.6) | 1564 (4.9) | 123 (5.9) | ||
| Any preobservation dialysis | 348,637 (84.9) | 27,913 (88.3) | <0.001 | - | - | |
| Preobservation dialysis days | 11 (5–173) | 15 (6–465) | <0.001 | - | - | |
| CVD | 69,560 (16.9) | 4580 (14.5) | <0.001 | 3863 (12.1) | 238 (11.5) | 0.4 |
| DM | 262,680 (64) | 19,684 (62.2) | <0.001 | 19,617 (61.4) | 1255 (60.5) | 0.4 |
| Liver disease | 5003 (1.2) | 2440 (7.7) | <0.001 | 351 (1.1) | 150 (7.2) | <0.001 |
| COPD | 11,575 (2.8) | 817 (2.6) | <0.001 | 604 (1.9) | 35 (1.7) | 0.5 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 27.2 (23.3–32.6) | 25.5 (22.2–30.1) | <0.001 | 28.3 924.4–32.8) | 26.9 (23.6–30.8) | <0.001 |
| Insurance | ||||||
| Medicare | 245,292 (59.7) | 18,093 (57.2) | <0.001 | 14,938 (46.7) | 1104 (53.2) | <0.001 |
| Medicaid | 13,378 (3.3) | 2326 (7.4) | 1051 (3.3) | 96 (4.6) | ||
| Private | 151,143 (36.8) | 11,145 (35.2) | 15,917 (49.9) | 874 (42.1) | ||
| Missing | 734 (0.2) | 60 (0.2) | 50 (0.1) | 1 (0.1) | ||
| Initial access type | ||||||
| AVF/AVG | 174,492 (42.5) | 14,684 (46.4) | <0.001 | 13,580 (42.5) | 1021 (49.2) | <0.001 |
| CVC | 197,872 (48.2) | 14,872 (47) | 13,507 (42.3) | 825 (39.8) | ||
| PD catheter | 31,366 (7.6) | 1543 (4.9) | 4367 (13.7) | 194 (9.4) | ||
| Other | 4539 (1.2) | 348 (1.1) | 0 | 0 | ||
| Missing | 2278 (0.5) | 177 (0.6) | 490 (1.5) | 34 (1.6) | ||
| Initial modality | ||||||
| HD | 381,142 (92.8) | 30,159 (95.3) | <0.001 | 28,056 (87.8) | 1878 (90.5) | 0.002 |
| Home HD | 1306 (0.3) | 86 (0.2) | 132 (0.4) | 10 (0.5) | ||
| Nocturnal | 575 (0.1) | 42 (0.1) | 90 (0.3) | 5 (0.2) | ||
| PD | 27,421 (6.7) | 1331 (4.3) | 3663 (11.5) | 181 (8.7) | ||
| Missing | 103 (0.1) | 6 (0.1) | ||||
| annual income (US$) | 47,625 (37,529–63,065) | 45,835 (35,717–60,157) | <0.001 | 48,697 (38,052–64,234) | 46,059 (35,134–60,230) | <0.001 |
| FIB-4 Index | ||||||
| Low | 136,378 (33.2) | 6650 (21) | <0.001 | 11,515 (36) | 225 (10.8) | <0.001 |
| Intermediate | 74,968 (18.2) | 5445 (17.2) | 2680 (8.3) | 128 (6.2) | ||
| High | 16,238 (3.9) | 2253 (7.1) | 213 (0.6) | 30 (1.4) | ||
| Missing | 182,963 (44.7) | 17,276 (54.7) | 17,536 (55.1) | 1691 (81.6) | ||
| Albumin (g/dL) | 3.6 (3.2–3.9) | 3.5 (3–3.9) | <0.001 | 4 (3.7–4.2) | 3.9 (3.6–4.1) | <0.001 |
| Hb (g/dL) | 10.4 (9.4–11.5) | 10.5 (9.4–11.7) | <0.001 | 11.3 (10.5–12.2) | 11.7 (10.8–12.5) | <0.001 |
| Platelets x103/mm3 | 233 (180–298) | 218 (162–286) | <0.001 | 232 (188–287) | 214 (168–269) | <0.001 |
| PRA>80% | - | - | - | 4669 (15) | 293 (14.5) | 0.8 |
| Blood group | 0.006 | |||||
| O | - | - | - | 16,760 (52.5) | 1076 (51.9) | |
| A | - | - | - | 9164 (28.7) | 538 (25.9) | |
| B | - | - | - | 5117 (16) | 385 (18.6) | |
| AB | - | - | - | 903 (2.8) | 75 (3.6) | |
Continuous data given as median [interquartile range]; categorical data as count (percentage).
Abbreviations: HCV−, Hepatitis C virus seronegative; HCV+, HCV seropositive; IQR – Interquartile range; ESRD - end-stage renal disease; DM – Diabetes mellitus; HTN – hypertension; GN – glomerulonephritis; PKD – polycystic kidney disease; CVD – cardiovascular disease; COPD – chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; BMI – body mass index; AVF – arteriovenous fistula; AVG – arteriovenous graft; CVC – central venous catheter; PD – peritoneal dialysis; FIB-4 – Fibrosis-4 Index; PRA – panel reactive antibody; Hb, hemoglobin