Baseline characteristics and health services use of participants
| Characteristic | Overall | Age group, yr | p value* | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65–74 | 75–84 | ≥ 85 | |||
| n = 59 042 | n = 39 358 | n = 16 903 | n = 2 781 | ||
| Follow-up, person-years | 469 514.25 | 338 740.5 | 117 737.5 | 13 036.25 | |
| Follow-up, person-years, mean (SD) | 7.95 (3.03) | 8.61 (2.61) | 6.97 (3.29) | 4.69 (3.15) | |
| Female sex, no. (%) | 28 838 (48.8) | 18 993 (48.3) | 8 223 (48.6) | 1 622 (58.3) | < 0.001 |
| Charlson comorbidity index, mean (SD) | 1.15 (1.31) | 1.10 (1.28) | 1.27 (1.36) | 1.20 (1.32) | < 0.001 |
| Comorbidity, no. (%) | |||||
| Hypertension | 23 279 (39.4) | 15 132 (38.5) | 7 094 (42.0) | 1 053 (37.9) | < 0.001 |
| Diabetes | 10 575 (17.9) | 7 351 (18.7) | 2 884 (17.1) | 340 (12.2) | < 0.001 |
| Dyslipidemia | 7 362 (12.5) | 5 472 (13.9) | 1 734 (10.3) | 156 (5.6) | < 0.001 |
| Coronary artery disease | 12 339 (20.9) | 7 628 (19.4) | 4 090 (24.2) | 621 (22.3) | < 0.001 |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 7 934 (13.4) | 4 478 (11.4) | 2 924 (17.3) | 532 (19.1) | < 0.001 |
| Dementia | 1 340 (2.3) | 512 (1.3) | 628 (3.7) | 200 (7.2) | < 0.001 |
| Arthritis | 16 636 (28.2) | 10 791 (27.4) | 5 052 (29.9) | 793 (28.5) | < 0.001 |
| Osteoporosis | 5 693 (9.6) | 3 575 (9.1) | 1 783 (10.5) | 335 (12.0) | < 0.001 |
| Ambulatory care use, mean (SD) | |||||
| No. of visits | 22.04 (17.78) | 21.42 (17.34) | 23.41 (18.48) | 22.48 (19.02) | < 0.001 |
| No. of visits (by specialty) | 3.35 (1.90) | 3.36 (1.91) | 3.39 (1.91) | 3.07 (1.74) | < 0.001 |
| No. of visits (by physician) | 5.38 (3.79) | 5.33 (3.77) | 5.55 (3.89) | 5.01 (3.50) | < 0.001 |
| Drug use | |||||
| No. of drugs, mean (SD) | 3.12 (3.01) | 2.97 (2.95) | 3.45 (3.11) | 3.17 (2.96) | < 0.001 |
| ≥ 1 drug, no. (%) | 43 940 (74.4) | 28 683 (72.9) | 13 171 (77.9) | 2 086 (75.0) | < 0.001 |
| ≥ 5 drugs, no. (%) | 16 653 (28.2) | 10 340 (26.3) | 5 487 (32.5) | 826 (29.7) | < 0.001 |
| ≥ 10 drugs, no. (%) | 2 142 (3.6) | 1 309 (3.3) | 746 (4.4) | 87 (3.1) | < 0.001 |
| No. of PIMs, mean (SD) | 0.74 (1.01) | 0.71 (0.99) | 0.81 (1.05) | 0.77 (1.01) | < 0.001 |
| ≥ 1 drug, no. (%) | 27 049 (45.8) | 17 488 (44.4) | 8 232 (48.7) | 1 329 (47.8) | < 0.001 |
| ARS score, mean (SD) | 0.27 (0.81) | 0.25 (0.78) | 0.30 (0.86) | 0.28 (0.80) | < 0.001 |
| ≥ 1 anticholinergic agent, no. (%) | 7 461 (12.6) | 4 701 (11.9) | 2 367 (14.0) | 393 (14.1) | < 0.001 |
Note: ARS = anticholinergic risk scale, PIM = potentially inappropriate medication, SD = standard deviation.
↵* Determined using analysis of variance for comparison among age groups.