Table 1.

Demographic characteristics and comorbidities compared between cohorts with and without erythropoietin treatment in hemodialysis patients in Taiwan.

	EPO Users		Non-EPO Users
	N = 15,992		N = 15,992		Standardized
Variable	n	%	n	%	Difference
Age (year)
18–40	295	1.84	336	2.10	0.018
41–50	928	5.80	995	6.22	0.018
51–60	2293	14.3	2115	13.2	0.032
61–70	3917	24.5	3742	23.4	0.026
≥71	8559	53.5	8804	55.1	0.031
Gender
Male	8119	50.8	8069	50.5	0.006
Female	7873	49.2	7923	49.5	0.006
Urbanization
Urban	8459	52.9	8465	52.9	0.001
Suburban	5211	32.6	5206	32.6	0.001
Rural	2322	14.5	2321	14.5	0.000
Comorbidity
Coronary heart disease	8457	52.9	8419	52.7	0.005
Hypertension	14,711	92.0	14,719	92.0	0.002
Diabetes	10,839	67.8	10,830	67.7	0.001
Atrial fibrillation	1477	9.24	1435	8.97	0.009
Heart failure	6796	42.5	6863	42.9	0.008
Hyperlipidemia	6956	43.5	7007	43.8	0.006
Anemia	9186	57.4	9230	57.7	0.006
Cataract	5939	37.1	6031	37.7	0.012
Diabetic retinopathy	3575	22.4	3587	22.4	0.002
Stroke	6918	43.3	6900	43.2	0.002
Viral hepatitis	1545	9.66	1580	9.88	0.007
DDDs/week, median (IQR)	2974.7	(9681.8)
Follow-up years, mean (SD)	3.97	(3.61)	1.02	(2.10)	1.000

DDDs, defined daily doses; EPO, erythropoietin; IQR, interquartile range; SD, standard deviation.