Use of proton pump inhibitors in general practice

Table 2 Characteristics of proton pump inhibitor-users (at least 3 packs in 90 d) and non-proton pump inhibitor-users n (%)

	All	PPI-users	Non PPI users
Patients	42548	6322	36226
Males	19632 (46.1)	2520 (39.9)	17112 (47.2)
Aged over 64 yr	12084 (28.4)	3902 (61.7)	8182 (22.6)
GERD	5769 (13.6)	2980 (47.1)	2789 (7.7)
Peptic ulcer	689 (1.6)	375 (5.9)	314 (0.9)
Arthropathy	15661 (36.8)	3786 (59.9)	11875 (32.8)
Heart disease	3932 (9.2)	1674 (26.5)	2258 (6.2)
Neoplasms	3384 (8.0)	1076 (17.0)	2308 (6.4)
Use of NSAIDS	1131 (2.7)	416 (4.6)	715 (2)
Use of ASA	4522 (10.6)	2017 (31.7)	2505 (6.9)
Use of OAT	1127 (2.6)	500 (7.9)	627 (1.7)
Use of systemic steroids	547 (1.3)	306 (4.8)	241 (0.7)
EGD scopy	5772 (13.6)	2626 (41.5)	3146 (8.7)
Test per H. pylori	4761 (11.2)	1641 (26.0)	3120 (8.6)
PPI refundable for prevention of gastric damage by NSAIDS	4105 (9.6)	1896 (30.0)	2209 (6.1)
PPI refundable for peptic ulcer or GERD	6340 (14.9)	3265 (51.6)	3075 (8.5)
PPI refundable for prevention of gastric damage by NSAIDS or peptic ulcer or GERD	9368 (22.0)	4383 (69.3)	4985 (13.8)

All the features differ significantly (P < 0.01) between the two groups. PPI: Proton pump inhibitors; GERD: Gastroesophageal reflux disease; Heart disease: Heart failure, coronary ischemic disease, major heart valves disease; NSAIDS: Non steroid inflammatory drugs; ASA: Acetylsalicylic acid; OAT: Oral anticoagulant therapy; EGDscopy: Esophageal-gastro-duodenal endoscopy; H. pylori: Helicobacter pylori.