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Figure 3 Risk of Death During Follow-Up Associated With a GDF-15 Level >2,729 ng/l at Study Entry

Patient numbers are shown in parentheses. For analyses according to age, body mass index (BMI), creatinine, and creatinine clearance (Crea Cl), median values of the study population were used to create subgroups of comparable size. Patients were also stratified according to presence or absence of anemia (hemoglobin 13 g/dl in men, 12 g/dl in women), hyperuricemia (uric acid >400 µmol/l), angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) therapy, and beta-blocker therapy at study entry. The hazard ratio (HR) could not be calculated in patients not receiving ACEI/ARB therapy (there were 0 deaths in 12 patients with growth differentiation factor (GDF)-15 levels 2,729 ng/l, and 8 deaths in 21 patients with GDF-15 levels >2,729 ng/l). The p values were obtained by simple Cox regression analysis. CI = confidence interval.