Characteristics of cases of hospitalised or fatal pneumonia and their matched controls selected from a cohort of patients with COPD
| Pneumonia cases | Controls | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of subjects | 20 344 | 197 705 |
| Age (years), mean±SD | 78.6±8.1 | 78.1±7.7 |
| Follow-up (years), mean±SD | 4.2±3.5 | 4.2±3.5 |
| Sex, % men | 56.8 | 45.4 |
| Hospitalisation for pneumonia in year prior to cohort entry, % | 7.4 | 3.0 |
| Hospitalisation for COPD in year prior to index date, % | 14.6 | 4.2 |
| Number of hospitalisations for COPD in year prior to index date (mean±SD) | 0.2±0.6 | 0.1±0.3 |
| Respiratory medication use in the year prior to index date | ||
| Oral corticosteroids (no. of prescriptions), mean±SD | 1.4±4.3 | 0.5±2.7 |
| Antibiotics (no. of prescriptions), mean±SD | 1.2±3.9 | 0.5±2.4 |
| Respiratory drugs (no. of prescriptions), mean±SD | 10.1±11.1 | 5.9±8.1 |
| Short-acting β agonists, % | 77.8 | 60.5 |
| Short-acting anticholinergics, % | 52.5 | 31.2 |
| Long-acting β agonists, % | 21.1 | 14.6 |
| Long-acting anticholinergics, % | 2.7 | 1.4 |
| Theophylline, % | 14.0 | 11.3 |
| Other medication use in the year prior to index date | ||
| Cardiac drugs, % | 79.7 | 76.6 |
| Diabetes drugs, % | 17.3 | 14.4 |
| Antidepressants, % | 21.9 | 17.6 |
| Central nervous system drugs, % | 62.5 | 54.4 |
| Osteoporosis drugs, % | 16.2 | 15.4 |
| NSAIDs, % | 26.4 | 29.8 |
| Narcotics, % | 23.8 | 16.8 |
| Antirheumatic drugs, % | 1.2 | 0.9 |
COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; NSAID, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.