Table 1 Characteristics of cases and controls.

	Cases (n = 3423)	Controls§ (n = 68 456)
Mean (SD) age*, years	78.2 (5.4)	78.2 (5.4)
Sex (%)
Female	52.1	67.1
Male	47.9	32.9
Comorbid conditions (%)†
Hypertension	57.0	50.1
Coronary artery disease	38.4	19.9
Cerebrovascular disease	2.0	0.9
Peripheral vascular disease	4.9	1.6
Previous MI	16.9	6.2
Congestive heart failure	19.3	8.4
Diabetes	25.4	11.8
Respiratory illness	26.4	19.1
Gastrointestinal ulcer disease	28.8	24.6
Thyroid disorders	17.0	16.9
Depression/psychiatric illness	15.3	14.6
Cancer	3.1	2.7
Use of concomitant treatment (%)†
Use of antilipidaemic agents	26.4	20.7
Use of anticoagulants	7.2	4.8
Use of low‐dose ASA	41.2	24.4
Use of oral corticosteroids	9.5	6.6
Healthcare utilisation‡
Hospitalisations (%)
None	59.2	75.1
⩾1	40.8	24.9
Outpatient medical visits
All visits to the doctor (%)
⩽12	61.8	71.8
>12	38.2	28.2
Visits to the cardiologist (%)
None	72.1	83.3
⩾1	27.9	16.7
Comorbidity indices‡
Mean (SD) of different drugs	11.5 (6.4)	8.6 (5.3)
Mean (SD) chronic disease score	7.7 (4.3)	5.6 (4.0)
Mean (SD) Charlson index	0.89 (1.8)	0.38 (1.2)

ASA, acetylsalicylic acid; MI, myocardial infarction.

*At index date.

†In the year preceding initiation of an anti‐inflammatory agent (ie, cohort entry).

‡In the year preceding the index date.

§Four controls could not be found.