Table 1 Characteristics of patients with incident diabetes and a matched^a non-exposed cohort

Age at entry in years

 (Median, IQR)

62.9 (52.5–72.5)

63.6 (53.3–72.9)

Male gender

 (number, %)

122,594 (55.0)

647,287 (53.1)

Smoking (number, %)

 Non-smoker

82,856 (37.2)

525,881 (43.2)

 Ex-smoker

93,491 (42.0)

404,929 (33.2)

 Current smoker

42,414 (19.0)

244,247 (20.0)

 Missing

3,970 (1.8)

43,559 (3.6)

Alcohol intake (number, %)

 Non-drinker

31,232 (14.0)

134,862 (11.1)

 Ex-drinker

12,151 (5.5)

44,158 (3.6)

 Moderate drinker

145,695 (65.4)

793,877 (65.2)

 Heavy drinker

18,843 (8.5)

99,444 (8.2)

 Missing

14,810 (6.7)

146,275 (12.0)

BMI (number, %)

 <20

4,648 (2.1)

50,404 (4.1)

 20- < 25

29,973 (13.5)

347,150 (28.5)

 25- < 30

70,949 (31.9)

418,421 (34.3)

 ≥30

105,789 (47.5)

242,928 (19.9)

 Unknown

11,372 (5.1)

159,713 (13.1)

Ethnicity (number, %)

 White

122,507 (55.0)

626,733 (51.4)

 South Asian

5,326 (2.4)

12,979 (1.1)

 Black

2,347 (1.1)

7,979 (0.7)

 Mixed or Other

2,143 (1.0)

8,518 (0.7)

 Missing

90,408 (40.6)

562,407 (46.2)

Index of Multiple Deprivation

 1 – Least deprived

26,071 (11.7)

164,172 (13.5)

 2

30,191 (13.6)

174,611 (14.3)

 3

27,406 (12.3)

149,262 (12.3)

 4

27,207 (12.2)

136,276 (11.2)

 5 – Most deprived

24,080 (10.8)

113,147 (9.3)

 Missing

87,776 (39.4)

481,148 (39.5)

Mean number of consultations per year

 1^st tertile^d (0–6)

16,096 (7.2)

464,352 (38.1)

 2^nd tertile (7–12)

73,287 (32.9)

407,155 (33.41)

 3^rd tertile (13-maximum)

133,348 (59.9)

347,109 (28.5)

Total number of consultations

 1^st tertile^d (1–15)

32,699 (14.7)

444,234 (36.5)

 2^nd tertile (16–49)

65,760 (29.5)

411,258 (33.8)

 3^rd tertile (50-maximum)

124,272 (55.8)

363,124 (29.8)

Length of follow-up in years

 (Median, IQR)

4.4 (1.9–7.8)

3.8 (1.6–7.0)

 Total person-years

1,172,829

5,767,599