Rate and rate ratio of selected comorbidities among 197 male patients with biopsy-proven GCA (cases) and 782 reference subjects (reference) matched for age, sex, and date of diagnosis.
| Comorbidity | GCA, n = 197 | Cases, Person-yrs | Rate | Reference, n = 782 | Reference, Person-yrs | Rate | Rate Ratio | 95% CI | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ischemic heart disease1 | 56 | 889 | 63.0 | 172 | 3763 | 45.7 | 1.38 | 1.00–1.87 | 0.05 |
| Cerebrovascular accidents1 | 38 | 905 | 41.9 | 95 | 4045 | 23.4 | 1.79 | 1.19–2.61 | 0.01 |
| Hypertension | 95 | 705 | 135 | 329 | 3114 | 106 | 1.28 | 1.00–1.60 | 0.05 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 39 | 896 | 43.5 | 144 | 3640 | 39.5 | 1.10 | 0.75–1.57 | 0.6 |
| VTE1 | 15 | 1006 | 14.9 | 17 | 4260 | 3.99 | 3.74 | 1.74–7.95 | 0.006 |
| Thyroid disease | 8 | 1014 | 7.89 | 27 | 4205 | 6.42 | 1.23 | 0.48–2.78 | 0.6 |
| Dyslipoproteinemias | 17 | 996 | 17.0 | 78 | 4016 | 19.4 | 0.88 | 0.49–1.49 | 0.6 |
| Psychiatric disease | 53 | 908 | 58.3 | 220 | 3620 | 60.7 | 0.96 | 0.70–1.30 | 0.7 |
| Osteoporosis | 17 | 1003 | 16.9 | 20 | 4220 | 4.74 | 3.58 | 1.76–7.15 | 0.004 |
| Fractures | 25 | 966 | 25.8 | 83 | 4043 | 20.5 | 1.26 | 0.77–1.98 | 0.3 |
↵1 Only inpatient diagnoses; all other diagnoses are for both inpatient and outpatient diagnoses. GCA: giant cell arteritis; VTE: venous thromboembolic diseases: pulmonary embolus and/or deep vein thrombosis.