Table 1

Baseline characteristics of patients diagnosed with MRSA (1439 subjects; mean ± SD age 70.3 ± 18.3 years) and a matched population sample free of MRSA (14,090 subjects; mean ± SD age 69.9 ± 18.2 years) from GPRD (2001–2004)

Characteristic
Patients with MRSA
Matched MRSA-free patients



n
Percentage
n
Percentage

Male
604
42.0%
5988
42.5%

Female
835
58.0%
8102
57.5%

Co-morbidity in the 2 years prior to cohort entry





     Diabetes
162
11.3%
877
6.2%
     Cardiovascular disease
98
6.8%
467
3.3%
     Stroke
74
5.1%
140
1.0%
     Peripheral vascular disease
34
2.4%
72
0.5%
     COPD
76
5.3%
364
2.6%
     Renal failure
45
3.1%
138
1.0%
     Cancer
27
1.9%
127
0.9%
     Autoimmune disease
12
0.8%
66
0.5%
Drug exposure in the 1 year prior to cohort entry




     Oral prednisone use
155
10.8%
858
6.1%
     Antibiotics
1019
70.8%
5369
38.1%

Delaney et al. BMC Medicine 2008 6:2   doi:10.1186/1741-7015-6-2