Characteristics of patients prescribed and not prescribed fluoroquinolones
| Baseline characteristic | Overall n=1 744 360 | Fluoroquinolone Yes* n=657 950 N (%) | Fluoroquinolone No* n=1 086 410 N (%) | p Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | ||||
| Age | 65† | 65† | 65† | – |
| Sex—male | 850 481 (48.8) | 319 485 (48.6) | 530 996 (48.9) | <0.001 |
| Income quintile | 363 246 (20.8) | 137 594 (20.9) | 225 652 (20.8) | |
| 5 (highest) | ||||
| 4 | 339 798 (19.5) | 130 626 (19.9) | 209 172 (19.3) | |
| 3 | 332 740 (19.1) | 130 524 (19.8) | 202 216 (18.6) | <0.001 |
| 2 | 336 910 (19.3) | 132 211 (20.1) | 204 699 (18.8) | |
| 1 (lowest) | 310 477 (17.8) | 122 722 (18.7) | 187 755 (17.3) | |
| Healthcare utilisation—mean (SD) | ||||
| Hospital admissions in previous year | 0.09 (0.40) | 0.13 (0.48) | 0.07 (0.35) | <0.001 |
| Physician visits in previous year | 9.6 (11.7) | 12.8 (13.2) | 7.6 (10.2) | <0.001 |
| Comorbid illnesses | ||||
| Diabetes mellitus | 231 805 (13.3) | 106 894 (16.2) | 124 911 (11.5) | <0.001 |
| Hypertension | 487 459 (27.9) | 216 062 (32.8) | 271 397 (25.0) | <0.001 |
| Atherosclerosis | 177 338 (10.2) | 90 521 (13.8) | 86 817 (8.0) | <0.001 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 34 580 (2.0) | 18 764 (2.9) | 15 816 (1.5) | <0.001 |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 115 205 (6.6) | 69 813 (10.6) | 45 392 (4.2) | <0.001 |
| Hypothyroidism | 42 876 (2.5) | 19 047 (2.9) | 23 829 (2.2) | <0.001 |
| Depression | 39 286 (2.3) | 19 718 (3.0) | 19 568 (1.8) | <0.001 |
| Inflammatory bowel disease | 7978 (0.5) | 4176 (0.6) | 3802 (0.3) | <0.001 |
| Malignancy | 14 911 (0.9) | 6979 (1.1) | 7932 (0.7) | <0.001 |
| Liver disease | 1701 (0.1) | 801 (0.1) | 900 (0.1) | <0.001 |
| Pneumonia in past year | 35 851 (2.1) | 21 704 (3.3) | 14 147 (1.3) | <0.001 |
| Urinary tract infection in past year | 58 687 (3.4) | 38 041 (5.8) | 20 646 (1.9) | <0.001 |
*Here patients are compared according to any versus no prescriptions of fluoroquinolones during their entire follow-up, but in primary analyses fluoroquinolone prescriptions are measured as a time-varying covariate, with at-risk periods of patient-time during fluoroquinolone prescriptions compared to patient- time not on fluoroquinolones.
†Age at accrual is 65 years for all patients.