Table 1.

Demographic and clinical characteristics of cohort members

Variables	No Dialysis	Acute Dialysis	Maintenance Dialysis
Total (%)a	5473 (55)	1159 (12)	3361 (34)
Age, mean (SD), yr	79 (11)	72 (10)	71 (10)
Age group, %
<65 yr	12	25	31
65–74 yr	18	31	34
75–84 yr	32	32	24
85+ yr	38	13	11
Male sex, %	97	98	99
Race, %
Black	18	25	37
White	80	73	60
Other	2	2	3
Next of kin, %a
Spouse/partner	37	42	45
Child	39	37	29
Sibling	10	10	13
Other	15	12	13
Comorbidities, %
Diabetes mellitusb	56	69	75
Congestive heart failure	63	72	70
Myocardial infarction	24	30	32
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease	55	57	53
Liver diseaseb	14	21	26
Cerebrovascular disease	31	29	35
Peripheral vascular diseasec	35	40	56
Dementiac	26	12	17
Cancerb	41	30	29
Region, %a
New England	4	4	2
Mid Atlantic	16	14	13
East North Central	13	13	13
West North Central	8	8	8
South Atlantic	23	22	25
East South Central	8	7	8
West South Central	10	14	12
Mountain	7	5	6
Pacific	11	14	13
Facility complexity, %
High (level 1a, 1b, and 1c)	83	94	92
Low (level 2 and 3)	17	6	8

^aDoes not sum to 100% due to rounding.

^bIncludes both Charlson Comorbidity Index diagnostic categories of mild and severe.

^cDiagnostic categories expanded (Supplemental Appendix 1).