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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2023 Feb 6.
Published in final edited form as: Am J Epidemiol. 2023 Feb 1;192(2):205–216. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwac170

Table 2.

Characteristics of the Cohort Included in a Vaccine Safety Datalink Recombinant Zoster Vaccine Safety Studya

Study Cohort Characteristic RZV Recipients (n = 647,307) Historical ZVL Comparators (n = 732,152) Well-Visit Comparators (n = 1,086,260)
No. % No. % No. %
Age group, years
 50–59 106,621 16 60,971b 8 270,963 25
 60–69 258,030 40 475,516 65 373,996 34
 70–79 207,812 32 144,377 20 299,177 28
 ≥80 74,844 12 51,288 7 142,124 13
Female sex 377,048 58 393,061 54 598,883 55
Health-care–seeking behavior
 Dermatology visit during prior year 149,711 23 99,401 14 167,639 15
 Optometry or ophthalmology visit during prior year 317,631 49 291,564 40 457,229 42
Receipt of ZVL vaccine at any time prior to RZV receipt or well-person visit 372,053 57 N/A N/A 562,597 52
Comorbidity during prior year
 Diabetes 116,226 18 141,905 19 185,698 17
 Hypertension 281,370 43 301,720 41 401,758 37
 Hyperlipidemia 313,644 48 293,134 40 410,616 38
 Ischemic conditionc 52,305 8 55,836 8 74,396 7
 Gastroesophageal reflux disease 130,149 20 106,904 15 175,640 16
 Osteoarthritis 115,837 18 99,325 14 141,672 13
 Atrial fibrillation 37,615 6 32,072 4 51,237 5
 Herpes zoster 16,727 3 13,773 2 11,245 1
 Dementia 13,257 2 6,962 1 25,429 2
 Congestive heart failure 19,286 3 21,612 3 30,202 3
 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 27,985 4 27,733 4 43,231 4
No. of concomitant vaccines
 0 505,129 78 491,865 67 N/A N/A
 1 127,192 20 204,020 28 N/A N/A
 ≥2 14,986 2 36,267 5 N/A N/A

Abbreviations: N/A, not applicable; RZV, recombinant zoster vaccine; ZVL, zoster vaccine live.

a

January 2018–December 2019 for the RZV and well-person visit groups and January 2013–December 2017 for the historical ZVL group.

b

This group is shown here for descriptive purposes but was not included in subsequent analyses, since ZVL is only recommended for use among persons aged ≥60 years.

c

Includes ischemic heart disease, transient ischemic attack, and prior stroke.