Fig. 5

Forest plot for all-cause mortality overall of early versus late referral stratified by dialysis modality. Compared to LR patients, ER patients showed a lower likelihood of mortality risk in HD only, PD only and two modality groups, respectively. The pooled HRs and their 95% CI were estimated using random effects models. Abbreviations: ER, early referral; LR, late referral; HD: hemodialysis; PD: peritoneal dialysis; CI, confidence interval