Table 1. Baseline characteristics of the HCV-cohort overall and stratified by disease severity.
| Patient characteristics | Overall (n = 15,985) |
Wihout liver complications (n = 12,806) |
With liver complications (n = 3,179) |
P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male gender (%) | 56.0 | 54.7 | 61.6 | <0.0001 |
| Mean age in years ±SD | 64.9±15.1 | 64.1±15.6 | 67.9±12.1 | <0.0001 |
| Age groups, years (%) | ||||
| 18–54 | 23.9 | 26.1 | 15.0 | <0.0001 |
| 55–74 | 44.1 | 42.8 | 49.0 | |
| ≥75 | 32.0 | 31.1 | 35.9 | |
| HBV co-infection (%) | 2.7 | 2.2 | 4.5 | |
| Liver complications (%) | ||||
| Compensated cirrhosis | 9.5 | - | 47.6 | - |
| Decompensated cirrhosis | 8.9 | - | 44.6 | |
| HCC | 5.4 | - | 27.3 | |
| Liver transplant | 1.5 | - | 7.6 | |
| Comorbidities (%) | ||||
| Cardiovascular disease | 29.4 | 29.2 | 29.9 | 0.44 |
| Diabetes | 20.5 | 18.2 | 29.7 | <0.0001 |
| COPD | 19.0 | 17.9 | 23.6 | 0.001 |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 16.0 | 16.1 | 15.4 | 0.37 |
| Cancer (excluding HCC) | 15.8 | 14.8 | 19.8 | <0.0001 |
| Renal disease | 12.1 | 11.2 | 15.8 | <0.0001 |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 5.4 | 5.1 | 6.8 | <0.0001 |
| Psychiatric disorders | 3.3 | 3.1 | 4.3 | 0.001 |
| Gastrointestinal disease | 1.9 | 1.5 | 3.1 | <0.0001 |
| Other paraproteinemias | 1.5 | 1.1 | 2.9 | <0.0001 |
| Rheumatic disease | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.004 |
| Number of HCV-related comorbidities (%)† | ||||
| 0 | 51.4 | 53.5 | 43.0 | <0.0001 |
| 1 | 26.9 | 25.7 | 31.8 | |
| ≥2 | 21.7 | 20.8 | 25.2 |
SD,Standard Deviation; HBV, Hepatitis B virus; HCV, Hepatitis C virus; HCC, Hepatocellular carcinoma; COPD, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
† HCV-related comorbidities included cardio-and cerebrovascular disease, diabetes and renal disease.