Table 1.

Baseline characteristics of patients with multiple myeloma at multiple myeloma diagnosis and intravenous bisphosphonate initiation

Variable	At NDMM Diagnosis				At IV BP initiation
	Appropriately timed anti‐MM therapya		Untreated with anti‐MM therapy
	N or Median	% or IQR	N or Median	% or IQR	N or Median	% or IQR
Total	348	100	199	100	264	100
Demographics
Age, years
18‐39	7	2.0	3	1.5	3	1.1
40‐49	27	7.8	14	7.0	17	6.4
50‐64	137	39.4	76	38.2	112	42.4
65+	177	50.9	106	53.3	132	50.0
Male sex	203	58.3	105	52.8	151	57.2
Race
White	230	66.1	120	60.3	176	66.7
Black	62	17.8	38	19.1	44	16.7
Asian	2	0.6	1	0.5	2	0.8
Other	18	5.2	10	5.0	11	4.2
Missing	36	10.3	30	15.1	31	11.7
Practice type
Academic	22	6.3	23	11.6	14	5.3
Community	326	93.7	176	88.4	250	94.7
Stage at multiple myeloma diagnosisb
Stage I	56	16.1	82	41.2	60	22.7
Stage II	105	30.2	35	17.6	76	28.8
Stage III	82	23.6	5	2.5	69	26.1
Missing	105	30.2	77	38.7	59	22.3
Insurance payer
Commercial health plan	102	29.3	56	28.1	82	31.1
Medicare	17	4.9	10	5.0	11	4.2
Multiple	134	38.5	76	38.2	101	38.3
Other	27	7.8	10	5.0	23	8.7
Missing	68	19.5	47	23.6	47	17.8
Comorbiditiesc
Diabetes	133	38.2	72	36.2	95	36.0
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma	140	40.2	69	34.7	103	39.0
Osteoporosis	78	22.4	54	27.1	67	25.4
Coronary artery disease	165	47.4	91	45.7	116	43.9
Liver disease	44	12.6	25	12.6	39	14.8
Renal disease or impairment	179	51.4	77	38.7	107	40.5
Neuropathy	170	48.9	81	40.7	129	48.9
Frailty indicatorsc
Congestive heart failure	139	39.9	64	32.2	98	37.1
Decubitus ulcer	20	5.7	13	6.5	20	7.6
Difficulty walking	46	13.2	38	19.1	46	17.4
Walker	29	8.3	20	10.1	40	15.2
Rehabilitation services	310	89.1	178	89.4	238	90.2
Vertigo	95	27.3	48	24.1	73	27.7
Other frailty indicatorsd	27	7.8	21	10.6	32	12.1
History of SREsc
Any SRE	83	23.9	31	15.6	97	36.7
Pathological fracture	59	17.0	19	9.5	71	26.9
Spinal cord compression	10	2.9	1	0.5	9	3.4
External beam radiation therapy	8	2.3	3	1.5	20	7.6
Bone surgery	36	10.3	17	8.5	44	16.7
Other treatments
Immunomodulating agent	187	53.7	0	0.0	134	50.8
Proteasome inhibitors	278	79.9	0	0.0	196	74.2
Monoclonal antibodies	2	0.6	0	0.0	1	0.4
Chemotherapy	81	23.3	0	0.0	61	23.1
Colony stimulating factor	7	2.0	0	0.0	8	3.0
Opioids	161	46.3	47	23.6	147	55.7
Glucocorticoids	279	80.2	23	11.6	200	75.8
Labs
Serum albumin, g/dL
Normal: 3.5‐5 g/dL	140	40.2	91	45.7	144	54.5
Low <3.5 g/dL	65	18.7	21	10.6	84	31.8
High >5 g/dL	4	1.1	4	2.0	3	1.1
Serum calcium, mg/dL
Normal: 9.1‐10.7 mg/dL	122	35.1	90	45.2	113	42.8
Hypocalcemia: <9.1 mg/dL	73	21.0	26	13.1	102	38.6
Hypercalcemia: ≥10.8 mg/dL	14	4.0	2	1.0	19	7.2
Beta‐2 microglobulin
Median (IQR)	10.8	(9.7, 12.3)	12.4	(10.8, 13.4)	10.8	(9.8, 12.0)
Missing	118	33.9	71	35.7	28	10.6
eGFR, mL/min
<30	33	9.5	8	4.0	8	3.0
30 to <60	55	15.8	27	13.6	50	18.9
≥60	94	27.0	64	32.2	146	55.3

eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; IV BP, intravenous bisphosphonates; MM, multiple myeloma; NDMM, newly diagnosed MM; SRE, skeletal‐related event

^aEarly MM treatment is defined as any MM‐specific therapy within the 30 d before or after NDMM diagnosis.

^bMM stage was determined directly from the EHR or using values for beta‐2 microglobulin and serum albumin as defined in the International Staging System

^cChronic comorbidities and SREs were assessed using all available data prior to the index date.

^dOther frailty indicators included oxygen use, paralysis, weakness, or wheelchair use.