Impact of hepatitis C virus infection and other comorbidities on survival in patients on dialysis

The impact of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and other comorbid conditions upon survival is not well quantified in patients on dialysis. We identified HCV‐infected and uninfected persons in the USRDS using claims data in 1997–1998 and followed until September 22, 2002 or death. We used Gray's time‐varying coefficients model to examine factors associated with survival. Subjects with a renal transplant were excluded. A total of 5737 HCV‐infected and 11 228 HCV‐uninfected persons were identified. HCV‐infected subjects were younger (mean age 57.8 vs 65.3 years), more likely to be male (57.6%vs 49.6%) and black (54.0%vs 36.4%). They were more likely to have a diagnosis of drug (16.5%vs 4.6%) and alcohol use (14.0%vs 3.1%), and to be human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co‐infected (7.4%vs 1.8%) (all comparisons, P