TABLE 1.

Demographic and clinical characteristics at inclusion of individuals with sarcoidosis and their matched general population comparators

	Sarcoidosis	General population
Subjects n	8737	86 376
Age years	49.8±14.8	49.8±14.7
Female	44.5	44.6
Born in non-Nordic country#	9.5	11.8
Education attained years
≤9	20.6	20.8
10–12	49.1	46.4
≥13	29.2	31.6
Missing	1.2	1.2
History of comorbidity
Congestive heart disease	2.4	1.3
Atrial fibrillation	3.2	2.1
Acute myocardial infarction	2.1	1.8
Stroke	1.7	1.6
COPD	2.3	1.0
Asthma	4.6	2.4
Hypertension	21.4	15.9
Diabetes mellitus	7.5	4.2
Dyslipidaemia	10.8	8.2
Autoimmune disease	7.9	4.3
Primary immunodeficiency	0.4	0.1
Serious infection in the past year	3.9	0.8
≥1 medication dispensed in the past 6 months¶	n=6723	n=66 441
Systemic corticosteroids	18.7	2.9
Other immunosuppressants+	1.2	0.7
Hydroxychloroquine	0.1	0.1
Inhaled corticosteroids	7.3	1.9
NSAIDs	26.3	9.7
Antimicrobials§	32.6	13.2

Data are presented as mean±sd or %, unless otherwise stated. Percentages may not sum to 100 owing to rounding. NSAIDs: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. ^#: Nordic countries: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland (category excludes missing <0.5%); ^¶: ascertained in individuals who entered the cohort starting January 1, 2006 for whom medication dispensations could be obtained from the Prescribed Drug Register; ⁺: includes methotrexate, azathioprine and leflunomide; ^§: includes antibacterial, antimycobacterial, antifungal and antiviral medications.