Table 1:

Characteristics of patients with and without a diagnosis of polymyalgia rheumatica

CharacteristicGroup; no. (%)*
PMR
n = 3249		No PMR
n = 12 735
Age at index date, yr, mean ± SD72.3 ± 8.972.0 ± 9.1
Female sex2356 (72.6)9245 (72.5)
Smoking status (ever smoked)†‡1308 (43.4)4496 (41.3)
Hypertension‡1611 (51.1)5241 (41.2)
Diabetes‡438 (13.5)1266 (9.9)
Hyperlipidemia‡521 (16.0)1431 (11.4)
Giant cell arteritis‡248 (7.6)67 (0.5)
Follow-up time, yr, median (IQR)7.8 (3.3–12.4)7.4 (3.3–12.0)

  • Note: IQR = interquartile range, PMR = polymyalgia rheumatica, SD = standard deviation.

  • ↵* Unless stated otherwise.

  • ↵† Contains missing data where smoking status was not recorded in General Practice Research Database data set (13% missing overall).

  • ↵‡ Recorded at any time before index date.