Table 1.
Characteristics of Treatment Episodes in the Original and PS Adjusted Cohorts Using Topical or Oral Nonselective NSAIDs
| Characteristics | Original Cohort | IPTW Adjusted | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Topical NSAIDs (N=10 758) | Oral NSAIDs (N=78 056) | SMDa | Topical NSAIDs (N=10 687) | Oral NSAIDs (N=78 097) | SMDa | |
| Age, mean (SD), y | 55.1 (15.4) | 51.7 (15.1) | 0.22 | 52.1 (16.0) | 52.1 (15.2) | 0.00 |
| Female sex, % | 82.3 | 76.0 | 0.22 | 77.0 | 76.8 | 0.00 |
| Income, % | 0.10 | 0.01 | ||||
| Low | 3.4 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | ||
| Middle | 36.5 | 41.3 | 40.2 | 40.7 | ||
| High | 60.1 | 55.7 | 56.8 | 56.3 | ||
| Comorbid conditions, % | ||||||
| Diabetes mellitus | 12.4 | 9.9 | 0.08 | 10.5 | 10.3 | 0.01 |
| Hypertension | 26.5 | 22.1 | 0.10 | 23.1 | 22.7 | 0.01 |
| Hyperlipidemia | 14.2 | 11.6 | 0.08 | 12.2 | 11.9 | 0.01 |
| Myocardial infarction | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.03 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.00 |
| Stroke | 4.6 | 2.2 | 0.13 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 0.00 |
| Angina | 2.3 | 1.8 | 0.04 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 0.01 |
| Upper gastrointestinal tract disease | 18.5 | 13.3 | 0.14 | 14.6 | 14.0 | 0.02 |
| Fractures | 6.4 | 3.0 | 0.16 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 0.02 |
| Osteoporosis | 8.5 | 4.9 | 0.15 | 5.6 | 5.3 | 0.01 |
| Liver disease | 13.9 | 10.6 | 0.10 | 11.2 | 11.0 | 0.01 |
| Chronic back pain | 36.8 | 29.6 | 0.15 | 31.0 | 30.5 | 0.01 |
| Gout | 8.3 | 11.4 | 0.10 | 11.1 | 11.0 | 0.00 |
| Heart failure | 2.4 | 1.5 | 0.07 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 0.01 |
| Osteoarthritis | 31.1 | 24.4 | 0.15 | 25.2 | 25.2 | 0.00 |
| Chronic renal disease | 2.6 | 1.0 | 0.12 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 0.01 |
| Comedications, % | ||||||
| Proton pump inhibitor | 8.1 | 4.2 | 0.16 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 0.01 |
| Antithrombotic therapy | 8.6 | 5.5 | 0.12 | 6.2 | 5.9 | 0.02 |
| β Blockers | 17.2 | 13.6 | 0.10 | 14.4 | 14.1 | 0.01 |
| ACEI | 6.5 | 5.5 | 0.03 | 5.8 | 5.6 | 0.01 |
| ARB | 12.1 | 7.9 | 0.14 | 9.0 | 8.5 | 0.02 |
| Oral steroid | 37.9 | 41.0 | 0.06 | 41.0 | 40.6 | 0.01 |
| DMARD regimens, %b | 0.20 | 0.01 | ||||
| No use | 69.3 | 65.6 | 65.7 | 66.0 | ||
| Methotrexate combination | 7.1 | 5.9 | 6.0 | 6.0 | ||
| Other methotrexate‐free combination | 3.9 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.6 | ||
| Methotrexate only | 1.4 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.2 | ||
| Hydroxychloroquine only | 12.5 | 15.6 | 15.6 | 15.3 | ||
| Sulfasalazine only | 3.3 | 6.0 | 5.5 | 5.6 | ||
| Other DMARD monotherapy | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | ||
| bDMARD regimens | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.8 | ||
ACEI indicates angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitor; ARB, angiotensin receptor blocker; bDMARD, biologic‐containing DMARD; DMARD, disease‐modifying antirheumatic drug; IPTW, inverse probability of treatment weight; PS, propensity score; and SMD, standardized mean difference.
SMD ≥0.1 represented significant differences.
Although using any DMARDs was one of the inclusion criteria, some patients may start taking NSAIDs before DMARDs or stop DMARDs during the follow‐up. Methotrexate combination indicates biologic‐free methotrexate combination regimens; other methotrexate‐free combination, biologic‐ and methotrexate‐free combination regimens; and bDMARD regimens, any monotherapy or combination regimen containing biologics.