| Time period, months | Exposed cohort | Unexposed matched cohort | Exposed versus unexposed | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Events, n (%) | Time at risk, person-years | Incidence per 10 000 person-years | Events, n (%) | Time at risk, person-years | Incidence per 10 000 person-years | Adjustedc HRe (95% CI) | ||
| All-cause | 0–6 | 3119 (4.1) | 35 962.2 | 867.3 | 423 (0.6) | 36 801.9 | 114.9 | 6.0 (5.4 to 6.7) |
| >6 | 11 251 (14.9) | 462 060.6 | 243.5 | 7726 (10.2) | 489 616.9 | 157.8 | 1.2 (1.1 to 1.3) | |
| COPD-related | 0–6 | 78 (0.1) | 35 962.2 | 21.7 | 5 (0.0) | 36 801.9 | 1.4 | 11.5 (4.5 to 28.9) |
| >6 | 1030 (1.4) | 462 060.6 | 22.3 | 198 (0.3) | 489 616.9 | 4.0 | 1.8 (1.5 to 2.1) | |
| IHD-related | 0–6 | 452 (0.6) | 35 962.2 | 125.7 | 70 (0.1) | 36 801.9 | 19.0 | 4.7 (3.6 to 6.2) |
| >6 | 2999 (4.0) | 462 060.6 | 64.9 | 1625 (2.1) | 489 616.9 | 33.2 | 1.2 (1.1 to 1.3) | |
↵a Patients with recorded breathlessness.
↵b Patients without recorded breathlessness.
↵c Adjusted for: index year; age; sex; region; smoker, ever; alcohol drinker, ever; BMI; deprivation level; comorbidity; cough and sputum; inflammatory conditions; depression and anxiety; diabetes; non-specific chest pain; musculoskeletal pain; later diagnosis. Later diagnosis as a time-varying covariate: for all-cause mortality, later diagnosis is the earliest diagnosis of asthma, COPD, or IHD.
↵e Sub-distribution HR was used in completing risk models for disease-specific mortality (other death was treated as competing events) and in Cox models for all-cause mortality. BMI = body mass index. COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. HR = hazard ratio. IHD = ischaemic heart disease.