Table 1.
Characteristics of patients initiating ACE inhibitors or ARBs in the UK primary care during 2004–2014, by monitoring groups
| Serum creatinine monitoring* |
Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No baseline or follow-up tests | Baseline test only | Follow-up test only | Baseline and follow-up tests | ||
| Total number | 21 411 (100) | 63 359 (100) | 33 185 (100) | 105 859 (100) | 223 814 (100) |
| Female sex | 8882 (41) | 27 722 (44) | 14 570 (44) | 49 109 (46) | 100 283 (45) |
| Age (years) | |||||
| <50 | 5019 (23) | 13 697 (22) | 8732 (26) | 19 910 (19) | 47 358 (21) |
| 50–59 | 5485 (26) | 15 135 (24) | 9115 (27) | 24 866 (23) | 54 601 (24) |
| 60–69 | 4863 (23) | 15 586 (25) | 7776 (23) | 27 790 (26) | 56 015 (25) |
| 70–79 | 3579 (17) | 12 193 (19) | 5066 (15) | 22 152 (21) | 42 990 (19) |
| 80+ | 2465 (12) | 6748 (11) | 2496 (8) | 11 141 (11) | 22 850 (10) |
| Calendar period | |||||
| 2004–2008 | 14 814 (69) | 40 667 (64) | 19 808 (60) | 60 902 (58) | 136 191 (61) |
| 2009–2014 | 6597 (31) | 22 692 (36) | 13 377 (40) | 44 957 (42) | 87 623 (39) |
| SES quintiles | |||||
| 1 (low) | 5153 (24) | 15 290 (24) | 8533 (26) | 25 577 (24) | 54 553 (24) |
| 2 | 4725 (22) | 14 331 (23) | 7887 (24) | 24 851 (23) | 51 794 (23) |
| 3 | 4341 (20) | 13 028 (21) | 6890 (21) | 22 629 (21) | 46 888 (21) |
| 4 | 4254 (20) | 12 140 (19) | 5931 (18) | 19 318 (18) | 41 643 (19) |
| 5 (high) | 2925 (14) | 8508 (13) | 3898 (12) | 13 359 (13) | 28 690 (13) |
| Missing | 13 (0) | 62 (0) | 46 (0) | 125 (0) | 246 (0) |
| Smoking status | |||||
| Never | 7860 (37) | 22 496 (36) | 12 229 (37) | 36 895 (35) | 79 480 (36) |
| Ever | 13 433 (63) | 40 797 (64) | 20 915 (63) | 68 939 (65) | 144 084 (64) |
| Missing | 118 (1) | 66 (0) | 41 (0) | 25 (0) | 250 (0) |
| Alcohol intake | |||||
| No use | 2556 (12) | 7819 (12) | 3409 (10) | 11 088 (10) | 24 872 (11) |
| Current | 15 495 (72) | 47 322 (75) | 25 656 (77) | 82 870 (78) | 171 343 (77) |
| Former | 1328 (6) | 4499 (7) | 1933 (6) | 7490 (7) | 15 250 (7) |
| Missing | 2032 (9) | 3719 (6) | 2187 (7) | 4411 (4) | 12 349 (6) |
| BMI groups | |||||
| Underweight | 282 (1) | 700 (1) | 304 (1) | 1008 (1) | 2294 (1) |
| Healthy weight | 5666 (26) | 15 406 (24) | 8089 (24) | 24 972 (24) | 54 133 (24) |
| Overweight | 7677 (36) | 23 755 (37) | 12 484 (38) | 40 556 (38) | 84 472 (38) |
| Obesity | 6009 (28) | 20 660 (33) | 10 527 (32) | 35 887 (34) | 73 083 (33) |
| Missing | 1777 (8) | 2838 (4) | 1781 (5) | 3436 (3) | 9832 (4) |
| CKD (eGFR)† | |||||
| Stage ≤2 (≥60) | 10 326 (48) | 53 773 (85) | 19 470 (59) | 87 484 (83) | 171 053 (76) |
| Stage 3a (45–59) | 1137 (5) | 7382 (12) | 1766 (5) | 13 913 (13) | 24 198 (11) |
| Stage 3b (30–44) | 217 (1) | 1885 (3) | 265 (1) | 3854 (4) | 6221 (3) |
| Stage 4 (15–29) | 24 (0) | 319 (1) | 29 (0) | 608 (1) | 980 (0) |
| Not measured | 9707 (45) | 0 (0) | 11 655 (35) | 0 (0) | 21 362 (10) |
| CV comorbidities‡ | |||||
| Heart failure | 1568 (7) | 3270 (5) | 1386 (4) | 4583 (4) | 10 807 (5) |
| Myocardial infarction | 3881 (18) | 4653 (7) | 3203 (10) | 4620 (4) | 16 357 (7) |
| Hypertension | 13 023 (61) | 44 273 (70) | 24 195 (73) | 80 946 (76) | 162 437 (73) |
| Peripheral arterial disease | 471 (2) | 1590 (3) | 523 (2) | 2547 (2) | 5131 (2) |
| Arrhythmia | 2057 (10) | 4973 (8) | 2000 (6) | 7123 (7) | 16 153 (7) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 1399 (7) | 13 586 (21) | 1992 (6) | 21 548 (20) | 38 525 (17) |
*Monitoring groups based on baseline (within 12 months before) and follow-up (within 2 months after) serum creatinine monitoring.
†Calculated from most recent creatinine measurement within 12 months before the first prescription date.
‡Diagnosis ever registered before ACE/ARB initiation in CRPD or HES.
ARB, angiotensin receptor blocker; BMI, body mass index; CKD, chronic kidney disease; CV, cardiovascular; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; HES, Hospital Episode Statistics; SES, socioeconomic status.