Table 1.

Baseline characteristics of patients with COPD and non-COPD patients

Descriptor	COPD patients		Non-COPD patients		P value
	n=80 874	%	n=308 999	%
Mean age at index date (years, SD)	66.9 (11.0)		66.5 (10.9)
Sex					0.002
Male	42 799	52.9	161 648	52.3
Female	38 075	47.1	147 351	47.7
Follow-up (years, median, IQR)	5.28	2.6–8.3	5.24	2.6–8.3
MRC Dyspnoea Scale (1 year either side of diagnosis)					<0.001
1	9499	11.8	1168	0.4
2	19 466	24.1	1092	0.4
3	10 488	13.0	446	0.1
4 & 5	5237	6.5	177	0.1
No record	36 184	44.7	306 116	99.1
CCI score					<0.001
0	0	0.0	172 566	55.9
1	41 777	51.7	50 955	16.5
2	13 506	16.7	42 667	13.8
3	12 694	15.7	23 546	7.6
≥4	12 897	16.0	19 265	6.2
BMI (kg/m2)					<0.001
Underweight (<18.5)	3414	4.2	2699	0.9
Normal (18.5–24.9)	24 734	30.6	54 267	17.6
Overweight (25–29.9)	23 497	29.1	77 129	25.0
Obese (≥30)	19 083	23.6	60 280	19.5
No BMI	10 146	12.6	114 624	37.1
Smoking status (1 year either side of diagnosis)					<0.001
Never smoked	7925	9.8	94 800	30.7
Ex-smoker	38 590	47.7	72 989	23.6
Current smoker	32 436	40.1	34 691	11.2
Unknown	1923	2.4	106 519	34.5
History of falls (prior to or at diagnosis)
Personal history	8969	11.1	26 203	8.5	<0.001
Parental history of fall/osteoporosis	96	0.1	298	0.1	0.076
Medications (1 year either side of diagnosis)
OCS use	33 618	41.6	19 479	6.3	<0.001
Inhaled corticosteroid use	47 574	58.8	21 312	6.9	<0.001

BMI, body mass index; CCI, Charlson Comorbidity Index; IQR, interquartile range; MRC, Medical Research Council; OCS, oral corticosteroids.