Selected baseline characteristics* of older adults dispensed trazodone or atypical antipsychotics
| Characteristic | No. (%) of participants† | Crude standardized difference | Weighted standardized difference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trazodone n = 6588 | Atypical antipsychotics n = 2875 | |||
| Demographic characteristics | ||||
| Age, yr, mean ± SD | 85.48 ± 7.22 | 85.00 ± 7.07 | 0.07 | 0.02 |
| Female sex | 4594 (69.7) | 1908 (66.4) | 0.07 | 0.01 |
| Weight, kg, mean ± SD | 65.86 ± 29.10 | 65.17 ± 29.99 | 0.02 | < 0.01 |
| Income quintile | ||||
| Missing | 66 (1.0) | 36 (1.3) | 0.02 | 0.01 |
| 1 (lowest) | 1549 (23.5) | 663 (23.1) | 0.01 | 0.01 |
| 2 | 1274 (19.3) | 532 (18.5) | 0.02 | < 0.01 |
| 3 | 1335 (20.3) | 600 (20.9) | 0.01 | 0.01 |
| 4 | 1254 (19.0) | 508 (17.7) | 0.04 | 0.01 |
| 5 (highest) | 1110 (16.8) | 536 (18.6) | 0.05 | < 0.01 |
| Dependency in ADLs, mean ± SD | 5.20 ± 1.33 | 5.35 ± 1.16 | 0.12 | 0.03 |
| Health care use | ||||
| Prescriptions, mean ± SD | 19.45 ± 9.97 | 17.63 ± 9.68 | 0.18 | 0.01 |
| Emergency department visits, mean ± SD | 1.52 ± 2.85 | 1.39 ± 1.95 | 0.05 | 0.01 |
| Inpatient hospital admissions, mean ± SD | 0.66 ± 1.00 | 0.58 ± 0.95 | 0.09 | 0.02 |
| Johns Hopkins ACG (version 10) ADGs | ||||
| 0–5 | 1601 (24.3) | 812 (28.2) | 0.09 | < 0.01 |
| 6–10 | 2173 (33.0) | 965 (33.6) | 0.01 | < 0.01 |
| ≥ 11 | 2814 (42.7) | 1098 (38.2) | 0.09 | < 0.01 |
| Medications | ||||
| Anticoagulants | 1498 (22.7) | 515 (17.9) | 0.12 | 0.01 |
| Hypoglycemic agents | 1416 (21.5) | 570 (19.8) | 0.04 | 0.03 |
| Antihypertensives | 4606 (69.9) | 1895 (65.9) | 0.09 | 0.02 |
| Antilipemics | 3015 (45.8) | 1252 (43.5) | 0.04 | 0.01 |
| Glucocorticoids | 607 (9.2) | 205 (7.1) | 0.08 | 0.02 |
| Hormone therapies | 150 (2.3) | 32 (1.1) | 0.09 | 0.02 |
| Osteoporosis treatments | 1551 (23.5) | 663 (23.1) | 0.01 | 0.01 |
| Antiparkinsonian agents | 501 (7.6) | 220 (7.7) | 0.00 | 0.01 |
| Pain medications | 2892 (43.9) | 1106 (38.5) | 0.11 | 0.02 |
| Psychoactive agents | 4842 (73.5) | 2273 (79.1) | 0.13 | 0.01 |
| Medical history | ||||
| Alcohol use | 329 (5.0) | 128 (4.5) | 0.03 | 0.02 |
| Cardiac arrhythmias | 1838 (27.9) | 683 (23.8) | 0.09 | 0.01 |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 1526 (23.2) | 607 (21.1) | 0.05 | 0.01 |
| Delusions or hallucinations | 251 (3.8) | 266 (9.3) | 0.22 | 0.01 |
| Depression | 2072 (31.5) | 871 (30.3) | 0.03 | 0.01 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 2285 (34.7) | 947 (32.9) | 0.04 | < 0.01 |
| Falls | 1619 (24.6) | 679 (23.6) | 0.02 | 0.01 |
| Major osteoporotic fracture | 975 (14.8) | 373 (13.0) | 0.05 | 0.02 |
| Ischemic heart disease | 1774 (26.9) | 678 (23.6) | 0.08 | 0.01 |
| Hypertension | 5564 (84.5) | 2296 (79.9) | 0.12 | 0.01 |
| Parkinsonism | 481 (7.3) | 212 (7.4) | 0.00 | 0.01 |
| Wheelchair ambulation | 3676 (55.8) | 1364 (47.4) | 0.17 | 0.01 |
Note: ACG = Adjusted Clinical Groups System, ADGs = Aggregated Diagnosis Groups, ADLs = activities of daily living, SD = standard deviation.
↵* See Appendix 2 (available at www.cmaj.ca/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1503/cmaj.180551/-/DC1) for the complete baseline characteristics of our study cohort.
↵† Unless stated otherwise.