Plasma GDF15 Mortality Prediction

The continuous variables were presented as mean ± standard deviation, and the categorical variables were expressed as number (%). The correlation coefficients between covariates of interest were calculated. The univariate Cox regression analysis was performed to investigate the independence of risk factors associated with all-cause and CV mortality. If hazard ratios (HRs) for the variables in the univariate analysis were significant, we would select the covariates into the multivariable regression model and GDF15-based death prediction model. Multivariable adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) of different mortality risks were calculated for plasma GDF15 tertiles in the Cox regression model. The cumulative survival probability and proportional hazards were presented by graphical methods. To assess the predictive accuracy of GDF15 tertiles and GDF15-based risk score for mortality, the area under ROC curve (AUC) was used as the criterion [3 (link)]. An AUC of 0.5 indicates no predictive ability, whereas a value of 1 represents perfect predictive ability. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. We used the PASW Statistics SPSS version 22.0 (IBM, City, NY, USA) to analyze all bio-clinical data of MHD patients.