Fig. 3

U-shaped association between serum Dkk-3 and the risk of primary outcome (death or vascular events) among patients with ischemic stroke. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals were derived from a Cox proportional hazards regression model with restricted cubic splines, with knots placed at the 10th, 30th, 50th, 70th, and 90th percentiles of the distribution of serum Dkk-3. Reference point was the median value of serum Dkk-3 (60.78 ng/mL). HRs were adjusted for age, sex, time from onset to hospitalization, current smoking, alcohol consumption, dyslipidemia, body mass index, blood glucose, diastolic blood pressure, creatinine, high sensitivity C-reactive protein, baseline NIHSS score, history of hypertension, history of coronary heart disease, history of diabetes mellitus, family history of stroke, ischemic stroke subtypes, and receiving immediate blood pressure reduction. The red line indicated HR, and the blue lines indicated 95% CI. p values were based on the likelihood ratio test