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. 2026 Mar 17;24:227. doi: 10.1186/s12916-026-04791-2

Table 1.

Baseline characteristics of participants included in target trials before IPCW

Characteristics Newly onset diabetes Exacerbated diabetes for rehospitalization
Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir trial SMD† Molnupiravir trial SMD† Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir trial SMD† Molnupiravir trial SMD†
Control (n = 14,521) Treatment (n = 10,756) Control (n = 16,117) Treatment (n = 7601) Control (n = 6151) Treatment (n = 4547) Control (n = 7771) Treatment (n = 5465)
Age 67.5 (22.2) 73.0 (16.0) 0.00 68.7 (22.0) 76.3 (16.4) 0.03 77.3 (12.8) 76.7 (11.1)  − 0.02 77.6 (12.7) 77.9 (12.0) 0.01
Sex 0.01 0.02 0.00 0.00
 Female 7616 (52.4) 5160 (48.0) 8367 (51.9) 3741 (49.2) 2738 (44.5) 2177 (47.9) 3490 (44.9) 2587 (47.3)
 Male 6905 (47.6) 5596 (52.0) 7750 (48.1) 3860 (50.8) 3413 (55.5) 2370 (52.1) 4281 (55.1) 2878 (52.7)
Vaccination status
 Unvaccinated 4353 (30.0) 1667 (15.5)  − 0.01 5074 (31.5) 1688 (22.2) 0.03 2080 (33.8) 646 (14.2)  − 0.02 2773 (35.7) 1247 (22.8) 0.02
 1–2 doses 4527 (31.2) 2025 (18.8) 0.00 5030 (31.2) 1716 (22.6) 0.00 2171 (35.3) 879 (19.3)  − 0.01 2696 (34.7) 1283 (23.5) 0.00
 ≥ 3 doses 5641 (38.8) 7064 (65.7) 0.01 6013 (37.3) 4197 (55.2)  − 0.02 1900 (30.9) 3022 (66.5) 0.02 2302 (29.6) 2935 (53.7)  − 0.01
 Charlson Comorbidity Index 1 (1-1) 1 (1-1) 0.01 1 (1-1) 1 (1, 2) 0.02 1 [0–1] 1 [0–1] 0.00 1 [0–1] 1 [0–2] 0.03
Pre-existing conditions
 Myocardial infarction 94 (0.6) 51 (0.5) 0.00 108 (0.7) 91 (1.2) 0.00 78 (1.3) 35 (0.8) 0.00 113 (1.5) 121 (2.2) 0.00
 Congestive heart failure 212 (1.5) 97 (0.9) 0.00 254 (1.6) 184 (2.4) 0.00 194 (3.2) 69 (1.5) 0.00 267 (3.4) 227 (4.2) 0.00
 Peripheral vascular disease 128 (0.9) 76 (0.7) 0.00 158 (1.0) 82 (1.1) 0.00 109 (1.8) 42 (0.9) 0.00 150 (1.9) 90 (1.6) 0.00
 Cerebrovascular disease 1193 (8.2) 786 (7.3) 0.00 1410 (8.7) 968 (12.7) 0.00 862 (14.0) 544 (11.9) 0.00 1117 (14.4) 862 (15.8) 0.01
 Chronic pulmonary disease 1109 (7.6) 537 (5.0) 0.00 1222 (7.6) 467 (6.1) 0.00 453 (7.4) 186 (4.1) 0.00 553 (7.1) 304 (5.6) 0.00
 Hypertension 4596 (31.7) 4122 (38.3) 0.00 5290 (32.8) 3239 (42.6) 0.01 3965 (64.5) 3076 (67.6) 0.00 4964 (63.9) 3510 (64.2) 0.00
 Liver disease 330 (2.3) 178 (1.7) 0.00 451 (2.8) 287 (3.8) 0.00 216 (3.5) 112 (2.5) 0.00 369 (4.7) 297 (5.4) 0.00
 Peptic ulcer disease 41 (0.3) 29 (0.3) 0.00 46 (0.3) 19 (0.2) 0.00 17 (0.3) 15 (0.3) 0.00 19 (0.2) 12 (0.2) 0.00
 Rheumatic disease 119 (0.8) 93 (0.9) 0.00 139 (0.9) 106 (1.4) 0.00 55 (0.9) 26 (0.6) 0.00 65 (0.8) 35 (0.6) 0.00
 Renal disease 115 (0.8) 53 (0.5) 0.00 180 (1.1) 184 (2.4) 0.00 166 (2.7) 67 (1.5)  − 0.01 292 (3.8) 336 (6.1) 0.00
 Dementia 222 (1.5) 113 (1.1) 0.00 250 (1.6) 174 (2.3) 0.00 120 (1.9) 60 (1.3)  − 0.01 143 (1.8) 104 (1.9) 0.01
 Cancer 211 (1.5) 158 (1.5) 0.00 231 (1.4) 110 (1.4) 0.00 104 (1.7) 78 (1.7) 0.00 133 (1.7) 82 (1.5) 0.00
 Immunocompromised status 826 (5.7) 630 (5.9) 0.00 940 (5.8) 516 (6.8) 0.01 372 (6.0) 202 (4.4) 0.00 478 (6.2) 314 (5.7) 0.00
Concomitant pharmacological treatments
 Dexamethasone 4821 (33.2) 1257 (11.7) 0.03 5650 (35.1) 1675 (22.0) 0.05 2815 (45.8) 611 (13.4) 0.01 3590 (46.2) 1172 (21.4) 0.04
 Methylprednisolone 26 (0.2) 7 (0.1) 0.00 28 (0.2) 4 (0.1) 0.00 9 (0.1) 2 (< 0.1) 0.00 16 (0.2) 2 (< 0.1) 0.00
 Prednisolone 870 (6.0) 448 (4.2) 0.00 968 (6.0) 428 (5.6) 0.00 389 (6.3) 153 (3.4) 0.00 483 (6.2) 308 (5.6) 0.00
 Baricitinib 336 (2.3) 123 (1.1) 0.01 402 (2.5) 88 (1.2) 0.00 218 (3.5) 58 (1.3) 0.01 294 (3.8) 67 (1.2) 0.00
 Tocilizumab 162 (1.1) 37 (0.3) 0.00 191 (1.2) 41 (0.5) 0.00 103 (1.7) 17 (0.4) 0.00 138 (1.8) 27 (0.5) 0.00
 Remdesivir 3284 (22.6) 817 (7.6) 0.04 3706 (23.0) 975 (12.8) 0.05 1969 (31.9) 390 (8.6) 0.04 2407 (31.0) 722 (13.2) 0.05
 Interferon 97 (0.7) 7 (0.1) 0.00 120 (0.7) 36 (0.5) 0.00 55 (0.9) 3 (0.1) 0.00 72 (0.9) 12 (0.2) 0.00
Concomitant non-pharmacological treatments
 Intensive care unit admission 399 (2.7) 100 (0.9) 0.01 473 (2.9) 104 (1.4) 0.00 332 (5.4) 74 (1.6) 0.01 477 (6.1) 81 (1.5) 0.01
 Use of ventilatory support 481 (3.3) 90 (0.8) 0.00 602 (3.7) 109 (1.4) 0.01 311 (5.0) 48 (1.1) 0.00 457 (5.9) 102 (1.9) 0.01
Healthcare utilization in pre-pandemic phase
 Any GOPC attendance 277 (1.9) 294 (2.7) 0.00 299 (1.9) 136 (1.8) 0.00 196 (3.2) 198 (4.4) 0.00 231 (3.0) 120 (2.2) 0.00
 Any hospital admission 353 (2.4) 95 (0.9) 0.00 419 (2.6) 92 (1.2) 0.00 158 (2.6) 40 (0.9) 0.00 214 (2.8) 100 (1.8) 0.00
 Prior use of lipid-lowering drugs 4009 (27.6) 3372 (31.3) 0.00 4627 (28.7) 3561 (46.8) 0.00 4510 (73.1) 3470 (76.0) 0.01 5680 (73.1) 4294 (78.6) 0.03
 Years since diagnosis of diabetes – – – – – – 3.1 (1.4) 3.5 (1.4) 0.02 3.1 (1.4) 3.3 (1.3) 0.00
 Prior use of ACEI 1535 (10.6) 1028 (9.6) 0.00 1798 (11.2) 1207 (15.9) 0.00 1833 (29.8) 1393 (30.6)  − 0.01 2328 (30.0) 1748 (32.0) 0.00

IPCW, inverse probability of censoring weighting; SMD, standardized mean difference; GOPC, general outpatient clinics; ACEI, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors

Data are presented in n (%), median [IQR], or mean (SD)

†Standardized mean difference after IPCW