Table 1.
Baseline characteristics
| COPD Patients (n = 32 693) | ||
|---|---|---|
| n | (%) | |
| Females | 14 551 | 44.5 |
| Mean age (years, SD) | 68.4 | 10.8 |
| Mean follow‐up time (years, SD) | 3.1 | 2.2 |
| Age category (years) | ||
| 40‐59 | 6902 | 21.1 |
| 60‐79 | 20 350 | 62.3 |
| 80+ | 5441 | 16.76 |
| BMI (kg/m2)* in the past 6 months | ||
| Underweight (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2) | 1704 | 5.2 |
| Normal weight (BMI 18.5‐24.9 kg/m2) | 11 286 | 34.5 |
| Overweight (BMI 25.0‐29.9 kg/m2) | 10 412 | 31.9 |
| Obese (BMI ≥ 30.0 kg/m2) | 8437 | 25.8 |
| Missing | 854 | 2.6 |
| Mean relative eosinophil count (%, SD) | 3.1 | 2.7 |
| Relative blood eosinophil count | ||
| Low (<2.0%) | 11 756 | 36.0 |
| Moderate (≥2.0%‐3.9%) | 13 059 | 39.9 |
| High (4.0%‐5.9%) | 5110 | 15.6 |
| Very high (≥6.0%) | 2768 | 8.5 |
| Absolute blood eosinophil count | ||
| <0.34 × 109 cells/L | 26 828 | 82.1 |
| ≥0.34 × 109 cells/L | 5865 | 17.9 |
| Smoking status at index date | ||
| Never | 3285 | 10.1 |
| Current | 14 522 | 44.4 |
| Former | 14 849 | 45.4 |
| Missing | 37 | 0.1 |
| Drug use (in the past 6 months) | ||
| SABAs | 15 307 | 46.8 |
| LABAs | 2724 | 8.3 |
| SAMAs | 2451 | 7.5 |
| LAMAs | 4432 | 13.6 |
| Xanthine derivatives | 97 | 0.3 |
| Antipsychotics | 352 | 1.1 |
| History of comorbidities | ||
| Diabetes mellitus | 4027 | 12.3 |
| Anxiety | 4865 | 14.8 |
| Osteoporosis | 1872 | 5.7 |
| Malignancies excluding nonmelanoma skin cancer | 4867 | 14.9 |
| Chronic liver disease | 110 | 0.3 |
| Ischaemic heart disease | 5027 | 15.4 |
Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; BMI, body mass index; SABAs, short‐acting beta‐2 agonists; LABAs, long‐acting beta‐2 agonists; SAMAs, short‐acting muscarinic antagonists; LAMAs, long‐acting muscarinic antagonists; ICS, inhaled corticosteroids.