Summary

Background and objectives Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a major risk factor for death in end-stage kid-ney disease; however, data on prevalence and survival trends are limited. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and mortality effect of CHF in successive incident dialysis cohorts. Design, setting, participants, & measurements This was a population-based cohort of incident US dialysis patients (n 926,298) from 1995 to 2005. Age- and gender-specific prevalence of CHF was determined by incident year, whereas temporal trends in mortality were compared using multivariable Cox regression. Results The prevalence of CHF was significantly higher in women than men and in older than younger pa-tients, but it did not change over time in men (range 28 % to 33%) or women (range 33 % to 36%). From 1995 to 2005, incident death rates decreased for younger men (70 years) and increased for older men (70 years). For women, the pattern was similar but less impressive. During this period, the adjusted mortality risks (relative risk [RR]) from CHF decreased in men (from RR 1.06 95 % Confidence intervals (CI) 1.02