To estimate mortality risk, the dialysis patient sample was small,
and the results should be interpreted with caution, as the statistical power is low.
However, differences in mortality risk were observed, and were in-line with the results seen in larger studies,
suggesting to us that our findings are of great clinical importance.
The patients in our cohort did not differ from the total dialysis population with respect to age, gender,
cause of primary kidney disease, prevalence of coronary heart disease or diabetes (10).
However, due to the exclusion criteria in our study, only the healthiest patients were included, and this may limit the
generalizability of the results.
Our population was mainly Caucasian, and the results may therefore not be applicable to dialysis patients of other ethnicities.