Table 1.
Baseline characteristics: first-line antibiotic monotherapies prescribed for LRTI
| Clarithromycin | Amoxicillin | Cefalexin | Co-amoxiclav | Doxycycline | Erythromycin | Oxytetracycline | Other* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antibiotic monotherapies (all; mortality analysis), n | 42 920 | 582 817 | 28 850 | 37 161 | 20 568 | 74 800 | 13 817 | 51 437 |
| All patients, n | 35 911 | 381 218 | 24 456 | 32 313 | 18 139 | 58 146 | 12 040 | 42 931 |
| CVD-eligible therapies, n (%) | 35 202 (82.0%) | 482 054 (82.7%) | 22 513 (78.0%) | 29 444 (79.2%) | 16 621 (80.8%) | 63 391 (84.7%) | 11 527 (83.4%) | 39 937 (77.6%) |
| Arrhythmia-eligible therapies, n (%) | 34 934 (81.4%) | 496 126 (85.1%) | 23 699 (82.1%) | 30 741 (82.7%) | 16 689 (81.1%) | 64 373 (86.1%) | 11 991 (86.8%) | 42 089 (81.8%) |
| Women, n (%) | 25 462 (59.3%) | 320 708 (55.0%) | 18 257 (63.2%) | 19 106 (51.4%) | 11 649 (56.6%) | 45 912 (61.3%) | 7369 (53.3%) | 31 083 (60.4%) |
| Age at therapy initiation, years† | 51/63/74 | 49/61/73 | 52/64/76 | 53/65/76 | 52/64/74 | 47/59/71 | 51/62/72 | 53/65/77 |
| BMI, kg/m2, n (%): | ||||||||
| Underweight | 1010 (2.4%) | 10 935 (1.8%) | 638 (2.2%) | 939 (2.6%) | 555 (2.7%) | 1357 (1.8%) | 234 (1.7%) | 1249 (2.4%) |
| Normal range | 3974 (9.2%) | 51 694 (8.9%) | 2537 (8.8%) | 3507 (9.4%) | 2301 (11.2%) | 6107 (8.2%) | 1086 (7.9%) | 4727 (9.2%) |
| Overweight/preobese | 5412 (12.6%) | 75 168 (12.9%) | 3448 (11.9%) | 4521 (12.2%) | 3176 (15.4%) | 8726 (11.7%) | 1665 (12.1%) | 5966 (11.6%) |
| Obese (class I–II) | 4927 (11.5%) | 63 985 (11.0%) | 2987 (10.4%) | 3692 (9.9%) | 2822 (13.7%) | 8119 (10.9%) | 1318 (9.5%) | 4776 (9.3%) |
| Obese (class III) | 724 (1.7%) | 9199 (1.6%) | 468 (1.6%) | 553 (1.5%) | 423 (2.1%) | 1429 (1.9%) | 150 (1.1%) | 753 (1.5%) |
| Missing/not recorded | 26 873 (62.6%) | 371 836 (63.8%) | 18 772 (65.1%) | 23 949 (64.4%) | 11 291 (54.9%) | 49 062 (65.6%) | 9364 (67.7%) | 33 966 (66.0%) |
| Smoking, n (%): | ||||||||
| Never | 19 513 (45.5%) | 262 022 (45.0%) | 12 929 (44.8%) | 15 930 (42.9%) | 8553 (41.6%) | 34 309 (45.9%) | 6277 (45.4%) | 23 055 (44.8%) |
| Former | 12 893 (30.0%) | 162 763 (27.9%) | 8094 (28.1%) | 11 275 (30.3%) | 6707 (32.6%) | 19 630 (26.2%) | 3633 (26.3%) | 14 780 (28.7%) |
| Current | 10 190 (23.7%) | 152 764 (26.2%) | 7354 (25.5%) | 9544 (25.7%) | 5239 (25.5%) | 20 313 (27.2%) | 3782 (27.4%) | 12 741 (24.8%) |
| Missing/not recorded | 324 (0.8%) | 5268 (0.9%) | 473 (1.6%) | 412 (1.1%) | 69 (0.3%) | 548 (0.7%) | 125 (0.9%) | 861 (1.7%) |
| SBP, mm Hg, n (%): | ||||||||
| Normal | 4316 (10.1%) | 54623 (9.4%) | 2750 (9.5%) | 3544 (12.3%) | 2212 (10.8%) | 7110 (9.5%) | 937 (6.8%) | 4667 (9.1%) |
| Normal high | 12 177 (28.4%) | 157 921 (27.1%) | 7726 (26.8%) | 9817 (34.0%) | 6504 (31.6%) | 19 519 (26.1%) | 3204 (23.2%) | 12 536 (24.4%) |
| Hypertension | 12 471 (29.1%) | 170 779 (29.3%) | 8990 (31.2%) | 11 125 (38.6%) | 6010 (29.2%) | 21 197 (28.3%) | 4119 (29.8%) | 16 056 (31.2%) |
| Missing/not recorded | 13 956 (32.5%) | 199 494 (34.2%) | 9384 (32.5%) | 12 675 (43.9%) | 5842 (28.4%) | 26 974 (36.1%) | 5557 (40.2%) | 18 178 (35.3%) |
| GP contacts (year prior)† | 4/8/15 | 3/7/12 | 4/8/15 | 4/8/14 | 4/9/16 | 3/7/12 | 3/7/12 | 4/8/15 |
| Ethnicity, n (%) | ||||||||
| Non-white | 1400 (3.3%) | 19 092 (3.3%) | 693 (2.4%) | 1237 (3.3%) | 463 (2.3%) | 2344 (3.1%) | 219 (1.6%) | 1167 (2.3%) |
| Unknown | 4035 (9.4%) | 53 199 (9.1%) | 2682 (9.3%) | 3717 (10.0%) | 1746 (8.4%) | 7053 (9.4%) | 1284 (9.3%) | 5440 (10.6%) |
| White | 33 584 (78.2%) | 448 294 (76.9%) | 23 070 (80.0%) | 28 690 (77.2%) | 16 463 (80.1%) | 57 588 (77.0%) | 10 894 (78.8%) | 40 802 (79.3%) |
| Missing/not recorded | 3901 (9.1%) | 62 232 (10.7%) | 2405 (8.3%) | 3517 (9.5%) | 1896 (9.2%) | 7815 (10.5%) | 1420 (10.3%) | 4028 (7.8%) |
| Diabetes, n (%) | 4759 (11.1%) | 58 866 (10.1%) | 3262 (11.3%) | 4255 (11.4%) | 2369 (11.5%) | 6842 (9.1%) | 1069 (7.7%) | 5695 (11.1%) |
| TC, mmol/L, n (%) | ||||||||
| Desirable | 12 290 (28.6%) | 160 601 (27.6%) | 7725 (26.8%) | 10 232 (27.5%) | 7069 (34.4%) | 17 961 (24.0%) | 2881 (20.9%) | 12 460 (24.2%) |
| Borderline high | 2322 (5.4%) | 28 102 (4.8%) | 1419 (4.9%) | 1684 (4.5%) | 1108 (53.9%) | 3671 (4.9%) | 601 (4.3%) | 2306 (45.0%) |
| High | 908 (2.1%) | 10 722 (1.8%) | 533 (1.8%) | 619 (1.7%) | 408 (2.0%) | 1438 (1.9%) | 236 (1.7%) | 943 (1.8%) |
| Missing/not recorded | 27 400 (63.8%) | 383 392 (65.8%) | 19 173 (66.5%) | 24 626 (66.3%) | 11 983 (58.3%) | 51 730 (69.2%) | 10 099 (73.1%) | 35 728 (69.5%) |
| Lipid-lowering prescriptions (count year prior)†‡ | 0/0/0 | 0/0/0 | 0/0/0 | 0/0/0 | 0/0/4 | 0/0/0 | 0/0/0 | 0/0/0 |
| Antihypertensive prescriptions (count year prior)†‡ | 0/0/7 | 0/0/7 | 0/0/7 | 0/0/7 | 0/0/7 | 0/0/6 | 0/0/6 | 0/0/7 |
| Antiplatelet prescriptions (count year prior)†‡ | 0/0/0 | 0/0/0 | 0/0/0 | 0/0/0 | 0/0/0 | 0/0/0 | 0/0/0 | 0/0/0 |
| Antibiotic prescriptions (count year prior)†‡ | 1/2/3 | 1/1/2 | 1/2/3 | 1/2/3 | 1/2/3 | 1/1/2 | 1/1/3 | 1/2/3 |
*Forty-six antibiotics (10 most frequently used : penicillin-V, flucloxacillin, cefradine, azithromycin, tetracycline, ampicillin, cefadroxil, ofloxacin, levofloxacin, nitrofurantoin).
†Lower quartile/median/upper quartile.
‡Inclusive of index date.
BMI: <20 kg/m2—underweight, 20–24 kg/m2—normal, 25–29 kg/m2—overweight/preobese, 30–39 kg/m2—obese (class I—II), >40 kg/m2—obese (class III).
SBP: <120 mm Hg—normal, 120–139 mm Hg—normal high, >140 kg/m2—hypertension.
TC: <5.2 mmol/L—desirable, 5.2–6.1 mmol/L—borderline high, >6.1 mmol/L—high.
BMI, body mass index; CVD, cardiovascular disease; GP, general practitioner; LRTI, lower respiratory tract infection; SBP, systolic blood pressure; TC, total cholesterol.