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. 2022 Aug 12;3(8):e222534. doi: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2022.2534

Table 1. Patient Characteristics at Dialysis Initiation, Before, During, and After Hurricane Maria (82 319 person-quarters).

Characteristic No. (%) P value for comparisonsa
All periods (Jan 1, 2012-Mar 31, 2020) Before (Jan 1, 2012-Sep 30, 2017) During (Oct 1, 2017-Dec 31, 2017) After (Jan 1, 2018-Mar 31, 2020) 1 2
Unique persons, No. 11 652 9022 2592 5397 NA NA
Age, mean (SD)b 59 (14.7) 58.4 (14.8) 55.2 (13.6) 58.4 (14.3) <.001 <.001
Sexb
Male 7157 (61.6) 5545 (61.6) 1622 (62.7) 3327 (61.8) .41 .28
Female 4465 (38.4) 3457 (38.4) 966 (37.3) 2059 (38.2)
Race and ethnicityc
Hispanic 10675 (91.9) 8228 (91.4) 2510 (97.0) 5120 (95.1) <.001 <.001
Non-Hispanic
Black 346 (3.0) 292 (3.2) Small cell 61 (1.1)
White 476 (4.1) 361 (4.0) 55 (2.1) 178 (3.3)
Other 124 (1.1) 120 (1.3) Small cell 26 (0.5)
Medical coverage
Dual 783 (6.7) 583 (6.5) 139 (5.4) 373 (6.9) <.001 <.001
Medicaid 1308 (11.2) 1006 (11.2) 370 (14.3) 672 (12.5)
Medicare 1480 (12.7) 1126 (12.5) 279 (10.8) 665 (12.3)
Other 8081 (69.4) 6307 (69.9) 1804 (69.6) 3687 (68.3)
Dialysis type
Hemodialysisb 10634 (90.2) 8114 (89.9) 2260 (87.2) 4838 (89.6) <.001 <.001
Peritoneal 1074 (9.1) 838 (9.3) 321 (12.4) 538 (10.0)
Primary cause of kidney failure
Diabetes
No 4803 (41.2) 3730 (41.3) 1151 (44.4) 2297 (42.6) <.001 <.001
Yes 6849 (58.8) 5292 (58.7) 1441 (55.6) 3100 (57.4)
Hypertension
No 9676 (83.0) 7540 (83.6) 2138 (82.5) 4437 (82.2) .03 .06
Yes 1976 (17.0) 1482 (16.4) 454 (17.5) 960 (17.8)
a

P values for comparison 1: all patients in Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria regardless of before or after; those who were in Puerto Rico only after or (before and after, not during); and those who were in Puerto Rico before only. P value for comparison 2: all patients who did not leave Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria; left Puerto Rico during Maria; and in Puerto Rico only before. P values performed by either analysis of variance or χ2 test (exact); percentages are reported in parenthesis unless otherwise noted.

b

Variables contain a small proportion of missing values (≤2%).

c

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services defines “Non-Hispanic Other” as respondents who are unable to identify with any of the race categories provided in form 2728.