Table 1 Characteristics of the study patients before and after propensity score matching
Before matching | After matching | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Variable | Pilocarpine (n = 1410) | Non-user (n = 3563) | SMD | Pilocarpine (n = 1014) | Non-user (n = 2028) | SMD |
Characteristic | ||||||
Age at diagnosis of newly onset pSS (years) | 57.0 ± 13.5 | 52.9 ± 14.6 | 0.296 | 54.7 ± 13.3 | 54.2 ± 13.5 | 0.034 |
Age group | ||||||
≤ 40 years | 156 (11.1) | 722 (20.3) | − 0.255 | 146 (14.4) | 288 (14.2) | 0.006 |
41–65 years | 861 (61.1) | 2118 (59.4) | 0.033 | 644 (63.5) | 1324 (65.3) | − 0.037 |
> 65 years | 393 (27.9) | 723 (20.3) | 0.178 | 224 (22.1) | 416 (20.5) | 0.039 |
Female gender | 1271 (90.1) | 3183 (89.3) | 0.027 | 915 (90.2) | 1811 (89.3) | 0.031 |
Comorbidity in the previous year | ||||||
Diabetes mellitus | 146 (10.4) | 285 (8.0) | 0.082 | 83 (8.2) | 163 (8.0) | 0.005 |
Chronic kidney disease | 78 (5.5) | 180 (5.1) | 0.021 | 46 (4.5) | 86 (4.2) | 0.014 |
Cirrhosis | 9 (0.6) | 47 (1.3) | − 0.069 | 8 (0.8) | 11 (0.5) | 0.030 |
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 64 (4.5) | 151 (4.2) | 0.015 | 47 (4.6) | 83 (4.1) | 0.027 |
Stroke | 65 (4.6) | 134 (3.8) | 0.042 | 36 (3.6) | 74 (3.6) | − 0.005 |
Dementia | 10 (0.7) | 42 (1.2) | − 0.049 | 8 (0.8) | 20 (1.0) | − 0.021 |
Immunosuppressant during the 3 months of follow-up | ||||||
Prednisolone equivalent glucocorticoid dose of glucocorticoid users | 142.8 ± 307.3 | 280.2 ± 785.1 | − 0.230 | 157.1 ± 346.4 | 176.3 ± 385.7 | − 0.052 |
Systemic glucocorticoids | 533 (37.8) | 1501 (42.1) | − 0.088 | 406 (40.0) | 777 (38.3) | 0.035 |
Azathioprine | 42 (3.0) | 244 (6.8) | − 0.180 | 41 (4.0) | 74 (3.6) | 0.021 |
Cyclophosphamide | 6 (0.4) | 42 (1.2) | − 0.085 | 5 (0.5) | 7 (0.3) | 0.023 |
Hydroxychloroquine | 1228 (87.1) | 2871 (80.6) | 0.178 | 859 (84.7) | 1737 (85.7) | − 0.026 |
Methotrexate | 38 (2.7) | 133 (3.7) | − 0.059 | 32 (3.2) | 61 (3.0) | 0.009 |
Pulse steroid therapy | 2 (0.1) | 36 (1.0) | − 0.115 | 2 (0.2) | 8 (0.4) | − 0.036 |
Potent immunosuppression | 87 (6.2) | 438 (12.3) | − 0.213 | 79 (7.8) | 149 (7.3) | 0.017 |
Healthcare utilisation due to pSS during the follow-up | ||||||
Number of ER visits per 5 years | 0.57 ± 2.12 | 0.76 ± 4.04 | − 0.057 | 0.55 ± 1.93 | 0.64 ± 3.27 | − 0.036 |
Number of admissions per 5 years | 0.34 ± 1.59 | 0.67 ± 2.81 | − 0.145 | 0.42 ± 1.78 | 0.46 ± 2.31 | − 0.022 |
Hospitalisation days per 5 years | 2.64 ± 17.02 | 6.45 ± 36.20 | − 0.134 | 3.40 ± 19.71 | 3.82 ± 24.95 | − 0.019 |
Follow-up (years) | 2.3 ± 1.5 | 2.5 ± 1.3 | −0.189 | 2.7 ± 1.3 | 2.6 ± 1.3 | 0.011 |
Propensity score | 0.335 ± 0.122 | 0.263 ± 0.114 | 0.608 | 0.277 ± 0.079 | 0.274 ± 0.079 | 0.030 |