Characteristics of current ACE-I/ARB users and non-users aged 50 years or above, before and after inverse probability of treatment weighting
| Unweighted cohort | IPTW cohort | |||||
| Current ACE-I/ARB use | No ACE-I/ARB use | SMD | Current ACE-I/ARB use | No ACE-I/ARB use | SMD | |
| (n=1336) | (n=4326) | (n=1179) | (n=4738) | |||
| Age, median (IQR) | 70 (60–79) | 61 (55–73) | 0.50 | 66 (58–77) | 64 (56–78) | 0.09 |
| Sex (male) | 685 (51.3) | 1830 (42.3) | 0.18 | 525 (44.5) | 2164 (45.7) | 0.02 |
| Status as healthcare professional | ||||||
| Physician | 20 (1.5) | 99 (2.3) | 0.06 | 21 (1.8) | 87 (1.8) | 0.01 |
| Nurse | 38 (2.8) | 352 (8.1) | 0.23 | 56 (4.7) | 291 (6.1) | 0.06 |
| Care assistent | 39 (2.9) | 223 (5.2) | 0.11 | 39 (3.3) | 193 (4.1) | 0.04 |
| Use of antihypertensives (within prior 90 days) | ||||||
| ACE inhibitors | 544 (40.7) | 0 | 1.17 | 443 (37.6) | 0 | 1.10 |
| Angiotensin receptor blockers | 800 (59.9) | 0 | 1.73 | 741 (62.9) | 0 | 1.84 |
| Calcium channel blockers | 376 (28.1) | 213 (4.9) | 0.66 | 157 (13.3) | 771 (16.3) | 0.08 |
| Thiazides | 434 (32.5) | 143 (3.3) | 0.82 | 142 (12.0) | 744 (15.7) | 0.11 |
| Beta blockers | 345 (25.8) | 345 (8.0) | 0.49 | 197 (16.7) | 866 (18.3) | 0.04 |
| Other antihypertensives | 25 (1.9) | 13 (0.3) | 0.15 | 12 (1.1) | 50 (1.1) | 0.00 |
| Diagnoses (within prior 10 years) | ||||||
| Hypertension | 603 (45.1) | 496 (11.5) | 0.81 | 299 (25.4) | 1277 (26.9) | 0.04 |
| Atrial fibrillation | 182 (13.6) | 353 (8.2) | 0.18 | 158 (13.4) | 544 (11.5) | 0.06 |
| Hospital-diagnosed obesity | 134 (10.0) | 256 (5.9) | 0.15 | 91 (7.8) | 436 (9.2) | 0.05 |
| Angina | 205 (15.3) | 288 (6.7) | 0.28 | 138 (11.7) | 565 (11.9) | 0.01 |
| Heart valve disease | 90 (6.7) | 113 (2.6) | 0.20 | 51 (4.3) | 176 (3.7) | 0.03 |
| Alcohol abuse | 47 (3.5) | 125 (2.9) | 0.04 | 47 (4.0) | 211 (4.4) | 0.02 |
| Diabetes | 390 (29.2) | 379 (8.8) | 0.54 | 195 (16.6) | 760 (16.0) | 0.01 |
| Venous thromboembolism | 57 (4.3) | 171 (4.0) | 0.02 | 56 (4.8) | 192 (4.1) | 0.04 |
| Dementia | 89 (6.7) | 263 (6.1) | 0.02 | 91 (7.7) | 285 (6.0) | 0.07 |
| Myocardial infarction | 73 (5.5) | 99 (2.3) | 0.17 | 45 (3.9) | 147 (3.1) | 0.04 |
| Liver disease | 10 (0.7) | 63 (1.5) | 0.07 | 18 (1.6) | 57 (1.2) | 0.03 |
| Kidney disease | 94 (7.0) | 112 (2.6) | 0.21 | 67 (5.7) | 227 (4.8) | 0.04 |
| Chronic pulmonary disease | 158 (11.8) | 391 (9.0) | 0.09 | 145 (12.3) | 488 (10.3) | 0.06 |
| End-stage renal disease | (n<5) | 11 (0.3) | 0.02 | 13 (1.1) | 11 (0.2) | 0.10 |
| Heart failure | 119 (8.9) | 99 (2.3) | 0.29 | 63 (5.4) | 331 (7.0) | 0.07 |
| Cancer | 177 (13.2) | 428 (9.9) | 0.11 | 141 (12.0) | 568 (12.0) | 0.00 |
| Stroke | 138 (10.3) | 215 (5.0) | 0.20 | 93 (7.9) | 328 (6.9) | 0.04 |
| Markers of smoking | 430 (32.2) | 1170 (27.0) | 0.11 | 362 (30.7) | 1321 (27.9) | 0.06 |
| Medications (within prior 90 days) | ||||||
| Statins | 545 (40.8) | 504 (11.7) | 0.70 | 263 (22.3) | 1145 (24.2) | 0.04 |
| Antivirals | 16 (1.2) | 57 (1.3) | 0.01 | 17 (1.4) | 54 (1.1) | 0.03 |
| Low-dose acetylsalicylic acid | 208 (15.6) | 199 (4.6) | 0.37 | 112 (9.5) | 395 (8.3) | 0.04 |
| Vitamin K-antagonists | 32 (2.4) | 50 (1.2) | 0.09 | 29 (2.4) | 69 (1.4) | 0.07 |
| Opioids | 176 (13.2) | 426 (9.8) | 0.10 | 173 (14.7) | 701 (14.8) | 0.00 |
| Antidepressants | 199 (14.9) | 472 (10.9) | 0.12 | 167 (14.1) | 609 (12.9) | 0.04 |
| Immunosuppresants | 8 (0.6) | 20 (0.5) | 0.02 | (n<5) | 28 (0.6) | 0.04 |
| Antipsychotics | 52 (3.9) | 138 (3.2) | 0.04 | 40 (3.4) | 169 (3.6) | 0.01 |
| Glucocorticoids | 55 (4.1) | 150 (3.5) | 0.03 | 61 (5.2) | 168 (3.5) | 0.08 |
| Hypnotics | 89 (6.7) | 218 (5.0) | 0.07 | 95 (8.1) | 359 (7.6) | 0.02 |
| Loop diuretics | 212 (15.9) | 220 (5.1) | 0.36 | 121 (10.3) | 535 (11.3) | 0.03 |
| Antibiotics | 361 (27.0) | 843 (19.5) | 0.18 | 291 (24.7) | 1106 (23.3) | 0.03 |
| Socioeconomic factors | ||||||
| Marital status | ||||||
| Widowed | 286 (21.4) | 591 (13.7) | 0.20 | 226 (19.1) | 801 (16.9) | 0.06 |
| Divorced | 195 (14.6) | 745 (17.2) | 0.07 | 194 (16.5) | 734 (15.5) | 0.03 |
| Married | 743 (55.6) | 2519 (58.2) | 0.05 | 641 (54.4) | 2748 (58.0) | 0.07 |
| Unmarried | 95 (7.1) | 429 (9.9) | 0.10 | 102 (8.7) | 408 (8.6) | 0.00 |
| Unknown | 17 (1.3) | 42 (1.0) | 0.03 | 15 (1.3) | 46 (1.0) | 0.03 |
| Ethnicity | ||||||
| Non-immigrant | 1159 (86.8) | 3665 (84.7) | 0.06 | 1013 (86.0) | 4008 (84.6) | 0.04 |
| First-generation or second-generation immigrant | 177 (13.2) | 661 (15.3) | 0.06 | 166 (14.0) | 730 (15.4) | 0.04 |
| Residence | ||||||
| Non-urban | 747 (55.9) | 2397 (55.4) | 0.01 | 644 (54.6) | 2685 (56.7) | 0.04 |
| Urban | 589 (44.1) | 1929 (44.6) | 0.01 | 535 (45.4) | 2052 (43.3) | 0.04 |
ACE-I, ACE inhibitors; ARB, angiotensin receptor blocker; SMD, standardised mean difference.