Fig. 1.

Cohort creation. This figure describes the creation of the study cohorts. After excluding hospitalizations for palliative and chronic care, hospitalizations that included inter-hospital transfers, those with recent previous hospitalizations, and early death or re-hospitalization (within 7 days), the primary cohort consisted of 1,014,891 patients ≥ 66 years of age. This cohort was further subdivided according to use of the selected study medications after discharge. To create each medication class, we excluded patients who had received the medication during the year prior to hospitalization or whose admission was associated with a clear documented clinical indication for receiving that medication before (i.e. 1 year) or for continuing the medication after hospital discharge (see eTable).