Background
Mortality is extremely high immediately after transition to dialysis, but the association of blood pressure (BP) before dialysis initiation with mortality after dialysis initiation remains unknown.
Study Design
Observational study.
Setting & Participants
17,729 US veterans transitioning to dialysis October 2007–September 2011, with a median follow-up of 2.0 years.
Predictor
Systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) averaged over the last one-year pre-dialysis transition period as six (<120 to ≥160 mmHg in 10–mm Hg increments) and five (<60 to ≥90 mmHg in 10–mm Hg increments) categories, respectively, and as continuous measures.
Outcomes & Measurements
Post-dialysis all-cause mortality, assessed over different follow-up periods (i.e., <3, 3–<6, 6–<12, and ≥12 months after dialysis initiation) using Cox regressions adjusted for demographics, comorbidities, medications, cardiovascular medication adherence, body mass index, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and type of vascular access.
Results
The mean pre-dialysis SBPs and DBPs were 141.2±16.1 (SD) and 73.7±10.6 mm Hg, respectively. There was a reverse J-shaped association of SBP with all-cause mortality, with significantly higher mortality seen in SBP <140 mmHg. The mortality risks associated with lower SBP were greatest in the first 3 months after dialysis initiation, with multivariable-adjusted HRs of 2.40 (95% CI, 1.96–2.93), 1.99 (95% CI, 1.66–2.40), 1.35 (95% CI, 1.13–1.62), 0.98 (95% CI, 0.78–1.22), and 0.76 (95% CI, 0.57–1.00) for SBP <120, 120–<130, 130–<140, 150–<160, and ≥160 (versus 140–<150) mmHg, respectively. No consistent association was observed between pre-dialysis DBP and post-dialysis mortality.
Limitations
Results cannot infer causality and may not be generalizable to women or the general US population.
Conclusions
Lower pre-dialysis SBP is associated with higher all-cause mortality in the immediate post-dialysis period. Pre-dialysis DBP showed no consistent association with post-dialysis mortality. Further studies are needed to clarify ideal pre-dialysis SBP levels among incident dialysis patients as a potential means to improve the excessively high early dialysis mortality.