Table 1.
Characteristics of the Study Participants
| Anti-hypertensives (n = 238,073) |
Aspirin + Anti-hypertensives (n = 182,663) |
Aspirin (n = 8618) |
Control (n = 173,582) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | ||||
| < 50 | 4951 (2.1%) | 10,663 (5.8%) | 1973 (22.9%) | 41,084 (23.7%) |
| 50–64 | 41,449 (17.4%) | 44,771 (24.5%) | 2119 (24.6%) | 50,773 (29.3%) |
| 65–79 | 131,267 (55.1%) | 95,206 (52.1%) | 2785 (32.3%) | 61,588 (35.5%) |
| > =80 | 60,406 (25.4%) | 32,023 (17.5%) | 1741 (20.2%) | 20,137 (11.6%) |
| Sex | ||||
| Male | 122,634 (51.5%) | 98,878 (54.1%) | 4130 (47.9%) | 92,703 (53.4%) |
| Female | 115,439 (48.5%) | 83,785 (45.9%) | 4488 (52.1%) | 80,879 (46.4%) |
| Use of anti-hypertensives | ||||
| ACEi/ARB only | 4986 (2.1%) | 2140 (1.2%) | NA | NA |
| α-blocker only | 11,297 (4.7%) | 1041 (0.6%) | NA | NA |
| β-blocker only | 7085 (3.0%) | 5980 (3.3%) | NA | NA |
| CCB only | 22,925 (9.6%) | 4816 (2.6%) | NA | NA |
| Combined treatment | 184,725 (77.6%) | 166,754 (91.3%) | NA | NA |
| Mean Duration | ||||
| Aspirin | NA | 8.0 years | 5.5 years | NA |
| Anti-hypertensives | 7.0 years | 8.7 years | NA | NA |
| ACEi/ARB | 4.9 years | 5.8 years | NA | NA |
| α-blocker | 5.0 years | 4.9 years | NA | NA |
| β-blocker | 5.4 years | 7.0 years | NA | NA |
| CCB | 4.7 years | 5.7 years | NA | NA |
| Other Medication Use | ||||
| H2 blocker | 142,158 (59.7%) | 144,348 (79.0%) | 5754 (66.8%) | 65,753 (37.9%) |
| Statin | 48,447 (20.3%) | 98,280 (53.8%) | 2255 (26.2%) | 4699 (2.7%) |
| NSAID | 130,894 (54.9%) | 93,200 (51.0%) | 3965 (46.0%) | 73,799 (42.5%) |
| Anti-coagulant | 13,483 (5.7%) | 59,129 (32.4%) | 720 (8.4%) | 2543 (1.5%) |
| Anti-platelet | 4906 (2.1%) | 56,305 (30.8%) | 1024 (11.9%) | 600 (0.3%) |
| PPI | 63,488 (26.7%) | 87,100 (47.7%) | 2383 (27.7%) | 22,436 (12.9%) |
| Disease Diagnosis | ||||
| IHD | 8899 (3.7%) | 89,185 (48.8%) | 1074 (12.5%) | 1809 (1.0%) |
| Stroke | 8506 (3.6%) | 52,101 (28.5%) | 2332 (27.1%) | 1271 (0.7%) |
| IHD or Stroke | 16,569 (7.0%) | 121,862 (66.7%) | 3250 (37.7%) | 3024 (1.7%) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 67,914 (28.5%) | 73,784 (40.4%) | 1230 (14.3%) | 8551 (4.9%) |
| No. of Lung Cancer | 6592 (2.8%) | 4470 (2.4%) | 216 (2.5%) | 6407 (3.7%) |
| No. of Death | 74,424 (31.3%) | 84,116 (46.0%) | 3253 (37.7%) | 36,564 (21.1%) |
| Duration of Follow-up# | 91 months (47.5) | 115 months (46.6) | 105 months (51.6) | 142 months (49.3) |
Note: # mean and standard deviation (SD)
Abbreviations: ACEi, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor; ARB, angiotensin II receptor blocker; CCB, calcium channel blocker; H2, histamine-2 receptor; NSAID, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug; PPI, proton-pump inhibitor; IHD, ischemic heart disease; NA, not applicable