Baseline characteristics
| Women | Men | |
| Number of individuals | 19 260 | 23 893 |
| Age in years (mean±SD) | 77.5±6.5 | 77.3±6.2 |
| Follow-up in years (mean±SD) | 4.0±3.1 | 3.5±2.8 |
| COPD hospitalisation in the year before t0 (%) | 2.7 | 2.6 |
| Asthma hospitalisation in the year before t0 (%) | 3.4 | 1.6 |
| Respiratory medications (mean±SD) | ||
| β2 Agonists | 6.9±7.6 | 8.5±9.0 |
| Ipratropium bromide | 5.4±6.9 | 6.6±7.6 |
| Theophylline | 2.4±5.7 | 3.5±6.1 |
| Inhaled corticosteroids | 4.5±4.5 | 4.8±4.7 |
| Oral corticosteroids | 1.8±4.2 | 2.0±4.2 |
| Respiratory antibiotics | 1.7±2.2 | 1.9±2.6 |
| Comorbidities (%)* | ||
| Diabetes medications | 12.7 | 11 |
| Cardiovascular disease medications | 78.5 | 71.9 |
| CNS medications | 9.9 | 9.1 |
| Osteoporosis medications | 13.6 | 3.8 |
| Rheumatic drugs | 1.6 | 1.1 |
| Benzodiazepines | 62.5 | 48.7 |
| Antidepressant drugs | 20.3 | 11.3 |
| Narcotics | 3.6 | 2.5 |
| NSAIDs | 32.7 | 25.7 |
↵* The proportion of subjects with the comorbidity, as defined by medication classes dispensed in the year prior to cohort entry, is reported.