Table 2.
Baseline characteristics: first-line antibiotic monotherapies prescribed for URTI
| Clarithromycin | Amoxicillin | Cefalexin | Co-amoxiclav | Doxycycline | Erythromycin | Penicillin-V | Other* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antibiotic monotherapies (all; mortality analysis), n | 20 303 | 380 258 | 23 581 | 25 823 | 72 226 | 66 607 | 121 238 | 41 650 |
| All patients, n | 17 818 | 280 614 | 20 251 | 22 862 | 56 392 | 53 510 | 103 580 | 36 916 |
| CVD-eligible therapies, n (%) | 18 657 (91.9%) | 345 636 (90.9%) | 21 122 (89.6%) | 23 874 (92.5%) | 67 649 (93.7%) | 61.854 (92.9%) | 115 936 (95.6%) | 37 270 (89.5%) |
| Arrhythmia-eligible therapies, n (%) | 17 600 (86.7%) | 335 160 (88.1%) | 20 618 (87.4%) | 22 852 (88.5%) | 63 806 (88.3%) | 59 401 (89.1%) | 111 211 (91.7%) | 36 294 (87.1%) |
| Women, n (%) | 13 958 (68.7%) | 244 927 (64.4%) | 16 693 (70.8%) | 16 379 (63.4%) | 50 164 (69.5%) | 46 352 (69.6%) | 76 028 (62.7%) | 28 531 (68.5%) |
| Age at therapy initiation, years† | 43/53/64 | 43/53/65 | 43/54/65 | 43/52/62 | 43/52/61 | 41/50/61 | 38/43/54 | 44/55/66 |
| BMI, kg/m2, n (%) | ||||||||
| Underweight | 293 (1.4%) | 4846 (1.3%) | 356 (1.5%) | 268 (1.1%) | 795 (1.2%) | 774 (1.2%) | 1028 (0.8%) | 584 (1.4%) |
| Normal range | 1851 (9.1%) | 32 753 (8.6%) | 2102 (8.9%) | 2022 (7.8%) | 6121 (7.8%) | 5190 (7.8%) | 8657 (7.1%) | 3637 (9.7%) |
| Overweight/preobese | 2448 (12.1%) | 45 419 (11.9%) | 2763 (11.7%) | 2801 (10.8%) | 7912 (10.7%) | 71 386 (10.7%) | 11 428 (9.4%) | 4807 (11.5%) |
| Obese (class I–II) | 2146 (10.6%) | 36 993 (9.7%) | 2163 (9.2%) | 2302 (8.9%) | 6342 (9.9%) | 6612 (9.9%) | 10 295 (8.5%) | 3869 (9.3%) |
| Obese (class III) | 349 (1.7%) | 5388 (1.4%) | 341 (1.4%) | 328 (1.3%) | 910 (1.7%) | 1133 (1.7%) | 1739 (1.4%) | 546 (1.3%) |
| Missing/not recorded | 13 216 (65.1%) | 254 859 (67.1%) | 15 856 (67.2%) | 18 102 (70.1) | 50 146 (68.7%) | 45 762 (68.7%) | 88 091 (72.7%) | 28 207 (67.7%) |
| Smoking, n (%): | ||||||||
| Never | 11 500 (56.7%) | 213 405 (56.1%) | 13 350 (56.6%) | 14 383 (55.7%) | 41 466 (57.4%) | 37 966 (57.0%) | 70 185 (57.9%) | 23 761 (57%) |
| Former | 4838 (23.8%) | 87 834 (23.1%) | 5332 (22.6%) | 5750 (22.3%) | 16 129 (22.3%) | 14 143 (21.2%) | 24 383 (20.1%) | 9230 (22.2%) |
| Current | 3889 (19.2%) | 77 209 (20.3%) | 4783 (20.3%) | 5548 (21.5%) | 14 365 (19.9%) | 14 209 (21.3%) | 25 886 (21.4%) | 8432 (20.2%) |
| Missing/not recorded | 76 (0.3%) | 1810 (0.5%) | 116 (0.5%) | 142 (0.5%) | 266 (0.4%) | 289 (0.4%) | 784 (0.6%) | 227 (0.5%) |
| SBP, mm Hg, n (%): | ||||||||
| Normal | 2400 (11.8%) | 41 534 (10.9%) | 2664 (11.3%) | 2762 (10.7%) | 7859 (10.9%) | 7481 (11.2%) | 14 592 (12.0%) | 4414 (10.6%) |
| Normal high | 5729 (28.2%) | 100 788 (26.5%) | 6198 (26.3%) | 6730 (26.1%) | 18 878 (26.1%) | 17 124 (25.7%) | 27 673 (22.8%) | 10 388 (24.9%) |
| Hypertension | 4418 (21.8%) | 89 787 (23.6%) | 5788 (24.5%) | 5506 (21.3%) | 15 461 (21.4%) | 14 297 (21.5%) | 18 593 (15.3%) | 10 494 (25.2%) |
| Missing/not recorded | 7756 (38.2%) | 148 149 (39.0%) | 8931 (37.9%) | 10 825 (41.9%) | 30 028 (41.6%) | 27 705 (41.6%) | 60 380 (49.8%) | 16 354 (39.3%) |
| GP contacts (year prior)† | 3/7/12 | 2/6/10 | 3/6/11 | 3/6/10 | 3/6/11 | 3/6/10 | 2/4/8 | 3/6/12 |
| Ethnicity, n (%) | ||||||||
| Non-white | 864 (4.2%) | 19 236 (5.1%) | 903 (3.8%) | 1083 (4.2%) | 2012 (2.8%) | 3262 (4.9%) | 6607 (5.0%) | 1499 (3.6%) |
| Unknown | 1831 (1.0%) | 33 981 (8.9%) | 2066 (8.8%) | 2435 (9.4%) | 7165 (9.9%) | 5967 (8.9%) | 11 548 (9.9%) | 3855 (9.3%) |
| White | 15 058 (74.2%) | 275 639 (72.5%) | 17 664 (74.9%) | 18 426 (71.4%) | 52 231 (72.3%) | 48 594 (73.0%) | 82 936 (68.4%) | 31 455 (75.5%) |
| Missing/not recorded | 2550 (12.6%) | 51 402 (13.5%) | 2948 (12.5%) | 3879 (15%) | 10 818 (15%) | 8784 (13.2%) | 20 287 (16.7%) | 4841 (11.6%) |
| Diabetes, n (%) | 1520 (7.5%) | 27 603 (7.3%) | 1677 (7.1%) | 1708 (6.6%) | 3985 (5.5%) | 4234 (6.4%) | 5681 (4.7%) | 3071 (7.4%) |
| TC, mmol/L, n (%): | ||||||||
| Desirable | 4669 (23.0%) | 84 779 (22.3%) | 5000 (21.2%) | 5215 (20.2%) | 13 842 (19.2%) | 12 507 (18.8%) | 17 136 (14.1%) | 8060 (19.4%) |
| Borderline high | 1069 (5.3%) | 18 072 (4.8%) | 1086 (4.6%) | 1144 (4.4%) | 3492 (4.8%) | 3106 (4.7%) | 3840 (3.2%) | 1914 (4.6%) |
| High | 451 (2.2%) | 6805 (1.8%) | 450 (1.9%) | 415 (1.6%) | 1355 (1.9%) | 1172 (1.8%) | 1459 (1.2%) | 736 (1.8%) |
| Missing/not recorded | 14 114 (69.5%) | 270 602 (71.2%) | 17 045 (72.3%) | 19 049 (73.8%) | 53 537 (74.1%) | 49 822 (74.8%) | 98 803 (81.5%) | 30 940 (74.3%) |
| Lipid-lowering 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 |
| Antihypertensive prescriptions (count year prior)†‡ | 0/0/2 | 0/0/2 | 0/0/3 | 0/0/0 | 0/0/0 | 0/0/0 | 0/0/0 | 0/0/3 |
| 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 | 1/1/2 | 1/1/2 | 1/1/2 | 1/1/2 | 1/2/3 |
*Thirty-one antibiotics (10 most frequently used: ciprofloxacin, flucloxacillin, tetracycline, cefradine, cefadroxil, azithromycin, metronidazole, nitrofurantoin, ampicillin, co-fluampicil).
†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; URTI, upper respiratory tract infection; SBP, systolic blood pressure; TC, total cholesterol.