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. 2016 Mar 8;11(3):e0150990. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0150990

Table 1. Characteristics of Chinese and non-Chinese at cohort entry.

Unmatched Matched
Chinese Non-Chinese Chinese Non-Chinese
N = 20,598 (%) N = 605,175 (%) Standardized Difference * N = 19,033 (%) N = 57,099 (%) Standardized Difference *
Demographics
Age, mean ± SD 73.6 ± 6.3 73.8 ± 6.5 3% 73.3 ± 6.0 73.3 ± 6.0 0%
Women 11,094 (54) 318,527 (53) 2% 10,260 (54) 30,780 (54) 0%
Income Quintile
One (lowest) 4,489 (22) 118,328 (20) 6% 4,025 (21) 12,075 (21) 0%
Two 4,919 (24) 127,257 (21) 7% 4,490 (24) 13,796 (24) 1%
Three (middle) 3,923 (19) 119,207 (20) 2% 3,711 (19) 11,072 (19) 0%
Four 3,854 (19) 118,085 (20) 2% 3,622 (19) 10,752 (19) 1%
Five (highest) 3,362 (16) 120,476 (20) 9% 3,185 (17) 9,404 (16) 1%
Rural Residence 162 (1) 87,397 (14) 53% 154 (1) 630 (1) 3%
Long-term Care Facility 483 (2) 13970 (2) 0.2% 402 (2) 827 (1) 5%
Year of Cohort Entry
2002–2003 3,183 (15) 110,941 (18) 8% 3052 (16) 9,156 (16) 0%
2004–2005 3,663 (18) 120,927 (20) 6% 3,443 (18) 10,329 (18) 0%
2006–2007 4,007 (19) 110,266 (18) 3% 3,616 (19) 10,848 (19) 0%
2008–2009 3,838 (19) 106,714 (18) 3% 3,473 (18) 10,410 (18) 0%
2010–2011 3,962 (19) 102,268 (17) 6% 3,656 (19) 10,968 (19) 0%
2012 1,945 (9) 54,090 (9) 2% 1,796 (9) 5,388 (9) 0%
Health care use §
Hospital discharge in the two days prior 897 (4) 60,918 (10) 22% 822 (4) 2,332 (4) 1%
Cardiologist visits
0 13,348 (65) 334,923 (55) 19% 12,443 (65) 36,689 (64) 2%
1 1,210 (6) 32,991 (5) 2% 1,120 (6) 3,573 (6) 2%
2 1,065 (5) 39,043 (6) 5% 9,72 (5) 3,287 (6) 3%
≥3 4,975 (24) 198,218 (33) 19% 4,498 (24) 13,550 (24) 0%
Family physician visits
0 582 (3) 21,030 (3) 4% 565 (3) 1,933 (3) 2%
1 436 (2) 18,127 (3) 6% 423 (2) 1,638 (3) 4%
2 609 (3) 23,206 (4) 5% 577 (3) 2,279 (4) 5%
≥3 18,971 (92) 542,812 (90) 8% 17,468 (92) 51,249 (90) 7%
Hospitalizations
0 16,813 (82) 414,679 (69) 31% 15,551 (82) 45,896 (80) 3%
1 2,569 (12) 116,362 (19) 19% 2,364 (12) 8,053 (14) 5%
2 841 (4) 45,439 (8) 15% 7,82 (4) 2,287 (4) 1%
≥3 375 (2) 28,695 (5) 16% 3,36 (2) 863 (2) 2%
ER visits
0 17,044 (83) 382,661 (63) 45% 15,750 (83) 46,171 (81) 5%
1 2,523 (12) 132,761 (22) 26% 2,340 (12) 8,202 (14) 6%
2 678 (3) 47,828 (8) 20% 635 (3) 1,930 (3) 0%
≥3 353 (2) 41,925 (7) 26% 308 (2) 796 (1) 2%
Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) 283 (1) 23,632 (4) 16% 275 (1) 769 (1) 1%
Holter monitoring 1,067 (5) 43,793 (7) 9% 993 (5) 3,022 (5) 0%
Cardiac Stress Test 1,941 (9) 85,821 (14) 15% 1,823 (10) 5,191 (9) 2%
Echocardiography 3,503 (17) 13,4553 (22) 13% 3,160 (17) 9,211 (16) 1%
Pulmonary function test 1,099 (5) 50,967 (8) 12% 1,049 (6) 3,087 (5) 1%
Cholesterol test 17,106 (83) 444,422 (73) 23% 15,722 (83) 47,540 (83) 2%
Co-morbidities ||
Charlson comorbidity index #
0 17,927 (87) 468,821 (77) 25% 16,652 (87) 49,963 (88) 0%
1 1,176 (6) 60,024 (10) 16% 1,108 (6) 3,314 (6) 0%
2 742 (4) 38,237 (6) 13% 671 (4) 1,976 (3) 0%
≥3 753 (4) 38,093 (6) 12% 602 (3) 1,846 (3) 0%
Johns Hopkins ACG score
0–4 10,312 (50) 260,430 (43) 14% 9,718 (51) 29,795 (52) 2%
5–9 8,697 (42) 272,385 (45) 6% 7,912 (42) 23,640 (41) 0%
10–14 1,497 (7) 65,918 (11) 13% 1,329 (7) 3,472 (6) 4%
≥15 92 (0.4) 6,442 (1) 7% 74 (0.4) 192 (0.3) 1%
Chronic kidney disease 1,232 (6) 34,428 (6) 1% 732 (4) 2,196 (4) 0%
Major cancer ** 1,297 (6) 61,331 (10) 14% 1,207 (6) 3,772 (7) 1%
Coronary artery disease†† 3,309 (16) 175,078 (29) 31% 2,885 (15) 8,655 (15) 0%
Peripheral vascular disease 70 (0.3) 9,010 (1) 12% 53 (0.3) 380 (1) 6%
Diabetes‡‡ 5,356 (26) 134,439 (22) 9% 4,813 (25) 14,583 (26) 1%
Chronic liver disease 1,263 (6) 12,219 (2) 21% 762 (4) 2,209 (4) 1%
Stroke/TIA 601 (3) 26,045 (4) 7% 559 (3) 1,329 (2) 4%
Heart failure 963 (5) 61,069 (10) 21% 834 (4) 2,544 (4) 0%
Sepsis 260 (1) 10,025 (2) 3% 220 (1) 576 (1) 1%
Hypertension 11,360 (55) 383,613 (63) 17% 10,291 (54) 31,381 (55) 2%
Angina 1,669 (8) 114,145 (19) 32% 1,587 (8) 4,356 (8) 3%
Arrhythmia 580 (3) 39,899 (7) 18% 508 (3) 1,564 (3) 0%
Medications §§
ACE Inhibitors 5,066 (25) 253,669 (42) 37% 4,838 (25) 14,004 (25) 2%
ARBs 5,445 (26) 95,466 (16) 26% 4,572 (24) 14,187 (25) 2%
Beta blockers 5,120 (25) 198,080 (33) 17% 4,616 (24) 13,421 (24) 2%
Calcium channel blockers 6,969 (34) 170,265 (28) 12% 6,047 (32) 18,584 (33) 2%
Loop diuretics 873 (4) 60,254 (10) 22% 718 (4) 2,378 (4) 2%
Potassium sparing diuretics 506 (2) 33,360 (6) 16% 477 (3) 1,475 (3) 0%
NSAIDs 3,216 (16) 108,378 (18) 6% 2,964 (16) 10,176 (18) 6%
Thiazide diuretics 2,576 (13) 121,829 (20) 21% 2,438 (13) 7,558 (13) 1%
Anticholinergics 543 (3) 27,886 (5) 11% 483 (3) 1,577 (3) 1%
Corticosteroids 892 (4) 29,894 (5) 3% 819 (4) 2,364 (4) 1%
Beta2-agonists 1,307 (6) 62,033 (10) 14% 1,203 (6) 3,757 (7) 1%
Amiodarone 150 (1) 9,320 (2) 8% 133 (1) 343 (1) 1%
Cyclosporine 13 (0.1) 209 (0.0) 1% 9 (0.0) 22 (0.0) 0%
Warfarin 796 (4) 47,906 (8) 17% 721 (4) 2,114 (4) 0%
Antidepressants 901 (4) 65,249 (11) 24% 846 (4) 2,570 (5) 0%
Levothyroxine 1,155 (6) 73,777 (12) 23% 1,098 (6) 3,330 (6) 0%
Quetiapine 67 (0.3) 3,803 (0.6) 4% 63 (0.3) 231 (0.4) 1%
Riseperidone 80 (0.4) 3,962 (0.7) 4% 69 (0.4) 239 (0.4) 1%
Olanzapine 67 (0.3) 3,252 (0.6) 3% 62 (0.3) 217 (0.4) 1%
Statin daily dose, median [IQR], mg
Atorvastatin 10 [10–20] 10 [10–20] 10 [10–20] 10 [10–20]
Rosuvastatin 5 [5–10] 10 [10–10] 5 [5–10] 5 [5–10]
Simvastatin 20 [10–20] 20 [10–40] 20 [10–20] 20 [10–20]
Rosuvastatin starting dose ||||
0 - <5 mg/day 195 (0.9) 2,018 (0.3) 158 (0.9) 298 (0.5)
5 - <10 mg/day 3,594 (17) 43,137 (7) 3,075 (16.2) 8,350 (14.6)
10 - <15 mg/day 11,128 (54) 306,722 (51) 10,491 (55.1) 31,003 (54.3)
15 - <20 mg/day 50 (0.2) 1,103 (0.2) 47 (0.3) 96 (0.2)
≥20 mg/day 5,631 (27) 252,195 (42) 5262 (27.7) 17,352 (30.4)

Abbreviations: TIA, transient ischemic attack; ACE, angiotensin-converting enzyme; ACG, adjusted clinical groups; ARB, angiotensin II receptor blocker; NSAID, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug; SD, standard deviation; IQR, interquartile range.

* Standardized differences are less sensitive to sample size than traditional hypothesis tests. They provide a measure of the difference between groups divided by the pooled standard deviation; a value greater than 10% is interpreted as a meaningful difference between the groups.

† Income was categorized into fifths of average neighborhood income on the index date.

‡ The date of cohort entry is also referred to as the index date.

§ Assessed by administrative database codes in the previous 1 year (unless otherwise specified).

|| Assessed by administrative database codes in the previous 3 years.

# Charlson comorbidity index [34, 35] was calculated using 3 years of hospitalization data. No prior hospitalizations received a score of 0.

** Major cancers include esophagus, lung, bowel, liver, pancreas, breast, male/female reproductive organs, as well as leukemia and lymphomas.

†† Coronary artery disease includes both diagnoses of angina and coronary artery revascularization.

‡‡ Assessed using prescriptions for diabetic medications.

§§ Assessed in the previous 120 days.

|||| Health Canada recommends a starting rosuvastatin dose of 5mg for individuals of Asian ethnicity.