Table 1.
Characteristics of the ambulatory older patients and comparisons between patients who were prescribed cold combination products and patients who were not
| Total, N = 756 | Cold combination products during 1-year follow-up | p-valuea | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes, N = 46 | No, N = 710 | |||
| Age, mean ± SD | 75.3 ± 7.3 | 76.1 ± 7.2 | 75.3 ± 7.3 | 0.48 |
| Men, n (%) | 392 (51.9) | 19 (41.3) | 373 (52.5) | 0.14 |
| Women, n (%) | 364 (48.1) | 27 (58.7) | 337 (47.5) | 0.14 |
| Total exemption from co-payment, n (%) | 59 (7.8) | 7 (15.2) | 52 (7.3) | 0.05 |
| Charlson Comorbidity Index, mean ± SD | 1.8 ± 1.6 | 1.8 ± 1.6 | 1.8 ± 1.6 | 0.93 |
| Number of medications | ||||
| Total, mean ± SD | 4.8 ± 2.9 | 7.0 ± 3.5 | 4.7 ± 2.7 | < 0.001 |
| No medication, n (%) | 21 (2.8) | 1 (2.2) | 20 (2.8) | 1.00 |
| 1–4 medications, n (%) | 362 (47.9) | 11 (23.9) | 351 (49.4) | < 0.001 |
| 5–9 medications, n (%) | 319 (42.2) | 23 (50.0) | 296 (41.7) | 0.27 |
| 10 or more medications, n (%) | 54 (7.1) | 11 (23.9) | 43 (6.1) | < 0.001 |
| Past medical history, n (%) | ||||
| Dementia | 41 (5.4) | 2 (4.3) | 39 (5.5) | 0.74 |
| Ischemic stroke | 96 (12.7) | 5 (10.9) | 91 (12.8) | 0.82 |
| Myocardial infarction | 40 (5.3) | 4 (8.7) | 36 (5.1) | 0.29 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 251 (33.2) | 12 (26.1) | 239 (33.7) | 0.29 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 248 (32.8) | 20 (43.5) | 228 (32.1) | 0.11 |
| Peptic ulcer | 155 (20.5) | 5 (10.9) | 150 (21.1) | 0.09 |
| Frequency of prescription with cold combination products | ||||
| Once | 26 (56.5) | |||
| Two or three times | 10 (21.7) | |||
| Four or more times | 10 (21.7) | |||
aChi squared tests were used for comparisons between patients who were prescribed cold combination products and patients who were not