Baseline characteristics of the General Practice Research Database stroke cohort
| Male (n=14 359) | Female (n=17 792) | Total (n=32 151) | |||||||
| n | % | 99% CI | n | % | 99% CI | n | % | 99% CI | |
| Demographic characteristics | |||||||||
| Mean (SD) age | 71.06 (12.7) | (70.8 to 71.3) | 77.02 (13.0) | (76.8 to 77.3) | 74.4 (13.2) | (74.2 to 74.6) | |||
| Mean (SD) BMI (n=23 856) | 26.52 (4.6) | (26.4 to 26.6) | 26.16 (5.6) | (26.1 to 26.3) | 26.3 (5.13) | (26.2 to 26.4) | |||
| Risk factors prior to initial stroke | |||||||||
| Hypertension (GP diagnosed or >160/100 mm Hg) | 8851 | 61.6 | (60.6 to 62.7) | 12 108 | 68.1 | (67.2 to 69.0) | 20 959 | 65.2 | (64.5 to 65.9) |
| Hypercholesterolaemia (GP diagnosed or cholesterol >5 mmol/l (193 mg/dl)) | 5730 | 39.9 | (38.9 to 41.0) | 6710 | 37.7 | (36.8 to 38.7) | 12 440 | 38.7 | (38.0 to 39.4) |
| GP-coded diabetes mellitus | 1875 | 13.1 | (12.3 to 13.8) | 1909 | 10.7 | (10.1 to 11.3) | 3784 | 11.8 | (11.3 to 12.2) |
| Smoking (ever) | 8015 | 55.8 | (54.7 to 56.9) | 6210 | 34.9 | (34.0 to 35.8) | 14 225 | 44.2 | (43.5 to 45.0) |
| GP-coded atrial fibrillation | 1411 | 9.8 | (9.2 to 10.5) | 2072 | 11.6 | (11.0 to 12.3) | 3483 | 10.8 | (10.4 to 11.3) |
| GP-coded transient ischaemic attack | 897 | 6.2 | (5.7 to 6.8) | 1111 | 6.2 | (5.8 to 6.7) | 2008 | 6.2 | (5.9 to 6.6) |
| Treatments in year prior to initial stroke (at least 2 prescriptions) | |||||||||
| Antihypertensives | 6453 | 44.9 | (43.9 to 46.0) | 9649 | 54.2 | (53.3 to 55.2) | 16 102 | 50.1 | (49.4 to 50.8) |
| ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor antagonists | 3226 | 22.5 | (21.6 to 23.4) | 3845 | 21.6 | (20.8 to 22.4) | 7071 | 22 | (21.4 to 22.6) |
| β-Blockers | 2252 | 15.7 | (14.9 to 16.5) | 3581 | 20.1 | (19.4 to 20.9) | 5833 | 18.1 | (17.6 to 18.7) |
| Calcium channel blockers | 2349 | 16.4 | (15.6 to 17.2) | 2988 | 16.8 | (16.1 to 17.5) | 5337 | 16.6 | (16.1 to 17.1) |
| Diuretics | 3362 | 23.4 | (22.5 to 24.3) | 6142 | 34.5 | (33.6 to 35.4) | 9504 | 29.6 | (28.9 to 30.2) |
| Anticoagulants | 703 | 4.9 | (4.4 to 5.4) | 787 | 4.4 | (4.0 to 4.8) | 1490 | 4.6 | (4.3 to 4.9) |
| Antiplatelet drugs | 4029 | 28.1 | (27.1 to 29.0) | 5471 | 30.7 | (29.9 to 31.6) | 9500 | 29.5 | (28.9 to 30.2) |
| Lipid regulating drugs | 2004 | 14 | (13.2 to 14.7) | 2221 | 12.5 | (11.8 to 13.1) | 4225 | 13.1 | (12.7 to 13.6) |
| Diabetes treatment | |||||||||
| Oral antidiabetic agents | 1193 | 8.3 | (7.7 to 8.9) | 1180 | 6.6 | (6.2 to 7.1) | 2373 | 7.4 | (7.0 to 7.8) |
| Insulin | 340 | 2.4 | (2.0 to 2.7) | 417 | 2.3 | (2.1 to 2.6) | 757 | 2.4 | (2.1 to 2.6) |
BMI, body mass index; GP, general practitioner.