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Table 3 Patients divided into quartiles according to dialysis symptom scores. Months of dialysis treatment (vintage), ultrafiltration rate mL/kg.h (UFR), change in pre- vs post-systolic blood pressure in mmHg (SBP), dialysate temperature (Temp), dialysate sodium mmol/L (Dial Sodium), sodium gradient between serum and dialysate mmol/L (Na gradient), urea reduction (URR), % patients with recovery post-dialysis < 1 h (recovery < 1 h), C-reactive protein, glycated haemoglobin mmol/mol (HbA1c), pro N terminal brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), hand grip strength (HGS), distress thermometer (DT) and prescribed antihypertensive medications (BP meds)

From: Patient-reported intra-dialytic symptoms and post-dialysis recovery times are influenced by psychological distress rather than dialysis prescription

Variable

Quartile 1

Quartile 2

Quartile 3

Quartile 4

Symptom score

5 (3–7)

17 (14–21)***

31 (28–35)***

51 (43–61)***

Male

79.1

68.2

49.0

44.8***

Age, years

68 ± 14

65 ± 16

65 ± 17

61 ± 17***

Diabetic, %

44.3

44.3

46.2

50.0

White, %

43.9

50.9

45.5

31.8

Black, %

37.3

28.1

27.6

36.8

Asian, %

18.9

21.0

22.5

30.5*

Vintage months

30.6 (12.5–68.8)

33.4 (10.1–70.4)

32.9 (13.6–65.7)

38.7 (18.5–71.7)

Weight, kg

73.0 ± 15.8

76.3 ± 16.0

74.3 ± 20.8

71.0 ± 20.6

% weight loss

2.2 (1.4–3.0)

2.1 (1.3–2.9)

2.2 (1.6–3.1)

2.4 (1.2–3.0)

UFR, mL/kg.h

4.2 (4.0–4.8)

4.1 (4.1–4.7)

4.1 (4.0–4.7)

4.1 (4.1–4.7)

Session hours

4.0 (3.5–4.0)

4.0 (3.5–4.0)

4.0 (3.5–4.0)

4.0 (3.5–4.0)

Temp., oC

35.9 ± 0.7

35.8 ± 0.7

35.9 ± 0.7

35.9 ± 0.7

Dial, sodium

137 ± 1.0

137 ± 1.0

137 ± 1.0

137 ± 1.0

Na, gradient

2 (0 to 4)

2 (0 to 4)

2 (− 1 to 4)

2 (− 1 to 4)

Qb, mL/min

322 ± 31

323 ± 31

320 ± 29

322 ± 39

Dialyzer, m2

1.9 ± 0.3

2.0 ± 0.3

2.0 ± 3.0

1.9 ± 0.3

URR, %

73.8 ± 8.9

71.5 ± 9.9

73.4 ± 8.5

74.5 ± 9.3

%SBP > 20 down

26.1

29.8

39

29.5

%SBP > 10 up

25.5

22.4

12.8*

14.8*

Haemoglobin, g/L

108.5 ± 14.5

108.9 ± 14.8

109.4 ± 14.5

105.5 ± 13.4

Recovery < 1 h

18.5

15.2

8.7***

7.2***

Albumin, g/L

38.4 ± 4.5

38.5 ± 4.6

38.2 ± 4.1

38.2 ± 4.7

CRP, mg/L

5.0 (2.0–10.0)

6.0 (3.0–11.0)

7.0 (3.0–11.0)

6.0 (2.0–11.0)

HbA1c

48 (38–56)

46 (38–61)

50 (41–66)

47 (36–60)

Glucose, mmol/L

6.5 (5.1–8.0)

6.2 (5.5–8.1)

6.2 (5.2–8.4)

6.8 (5.5–8.1)

BNP, ng/L

3130 (1678–9943)

3385 (1357–8944)

4253 (1483–15,112)

4072 (1443–14,744)

Frailty

4 (3–5)

4 (3–5)

4 (3–5)

5 (4–8)

HGS, kg

23 ± 10

22 ± 11

19 ± 10**

17 ± 9***

DT, score

1.0 (0–3.0)

2.5 (0–5.0)**

4.0 (1.5–6.0)*

5.0 (4.0–8.0)***

BP meds, %

67.4

50.3*

64.1

62.3

  1. Data expressed as number, percentage, mean ± standard deviation, or median (interquartile range). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 vs quartile 1