Characteristics of study participants
| Non-users | Any hypnotic users | Zolpidem | Temazepam | |
| N | 23 674 | 10 531 | 4338 | 2076 |
| % Female* | 62.7 | 63.9 | 64.8 | 60.0 |
| Age (years, mean±SD)* | 53.6 ±16.6 | 54.0±16.9 | 54.0±17.1 | 53.7±17.2 |
| Years of observation (mean±SD) | 2.50±1.43 | 2.49±1.39 | 2.34±1.33 | 2.51±1.37 |
| Comorbidity classes (mean ±SD)*** | 1.06±1.27 | 1.53±1.55 | 1.49±1.54 | 1.53±1.52 |
| Died during observation (% deceased)*** | 295 (1.2) | 638 (6.1) | 265 (6.1) | 143 (6.9) |
| BMI (%)*** | ||||
| <18.5 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.7 |
| 18.5–24.9 | 18.7 | 19.3 | 19.5 | 18.4 |
| 25–29.9 | 24.6 | 23.6 | 23.4 | 23.7 |
| 30–34.9 | 15.8 | 16.0 | 15.8 | 16.1 |
| >35 | 13.1 | 14.4 | 13.7 | 14.2 |
| Unknown | 26.8 | 25.3 | 26.3 | 26.0 |
| Marital status (%)*** | ||||
| Married | 62.7 | 56.1 | 56.6 | 57.7 |
| Divorced | 7.9 | 12.0 | 11.4 | 11.9 |
| Single | 15.1 | 14.7 | 14.3 | 13.8 |
| Separated | 1.8 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.0 |
| Widowed | 12.5 | 14.8 | 15.3 | 14.4 |
| Unknown | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Ethnicity (%)*** | ||||
| White | 93.5 | 97.0 | 97.2 | 96.8 |
| Asian, Black, Hispanics | 5.6 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 2.8 |
| Native or other | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Smoking status (%)*** | ||||
| Never | 42.7 | 42.8 | 44.1 | 41.0 |
| Unknown | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 3.5 |
| Passive | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Quit | 32.6 | 29.9 | 29.3 | 30.6 |
| Yes, now | 21.0 | 23.5 | 22.5 | 24.5 |
| Alcohol use (%)*** | ||||
| Yes | 42.0 | 38.5 | 39.4 | 37.0 |
| No | 46.3 | 51.7 | 49.7 | 53.2 |
| Unknown | 11.7 | 9.7 | 10.9 | 9.8 |
Non-users: controls with no record of hypnotic prescription. Any hypnotic users: receiving any hypnotic prescription during the period of observation. Zolpidem: users receiving prescriptions for zolpidem only. Temazepam: users receiving prescriptions for temazepam only. Years of observation: the period of observation for users and non-users in years. Comorbidity classes: the number of disease classes diagnosed both before and during the period of observation (see supplemental files for definitions of comorbidity classes). BMI (%): the percentage of the total group within the BMI range defined (kg/m2). Ethnicity (%): the percentage in each self-reported ethnicity (Asians, Blacks and Hispanics were combined because of small numbers). Alcohol use (%): a simple yes/no self-report. See supplemental table 3 for data concerning the less commonly prescribed hypnotics. * indicates p<0.05 and *** indicates p<0.001, contrasting non-users versus all hypnotic users.
BMI, body mass index.