Table 1 Baseline characteristics of cohort members (N = 144,047)

Individual-level characteristics

Socio-demographics

Income quintiles

  1 ^st (Low)

21,357 (15.0)

  2 ^nd

25,689 (17.8)

  3 ^rd

30,823 (21.4)

  4 ^th

32,495 (22.6)

  5 ^th (High)

30,803 (21.4)

  Missing

2,880 (2.0)

Place of residence

  Rural

21,301 (14.8)

  Urban

119,866 (83.2)

  Missing

2,880 (2.0)

Vaccination history

Refusal of mandatory vaccines^*

4,160 (2.9)

Refusal of optional vaccines^†

60,447 (42.0)

Health care utilization

Hospitalizations

  ≤1

110,167 (76.5)

  2-4

29,350 (20.4)

  ≥4

4,530 (0.03)

Inpatient hospital stay (days)

  ≤2

103,292 (71.7)

  3-1)

38,359 (26.6)

  ≥11

2,396 (1.7)

Emergency department visits

  None

48,413 (33.6)

  1-4

69,796 (48.5)

  5-12

21,229 (14.7)

  ≥13

4,609 (3.2)

Outpatient physician visits

  ≤42

36,861 (25.6)

  43-116

74,797 (51.9)

  117-206

26,794 (18.6)

  ≥207

5,595 (3.9)

Medical history

Congenital anomalies

4,723 (3.3%)

Viral diseases

95,070 (66.0%)

Cardiovascular disease

26,620 (18.5%)

Obesity

6,264 (4.4%)

Autism

599 (0.42%)

Mental illness

44,588 (31.0%)

Neurological diseases

12,972 (9.0%)

Down’s syndrome

639 (0.4%)

Diseases of the musculoskeletal system

48,670 (33.8%)

Respiratory disease

63,250 (43.9%)

Diseases of the endocrine system

5,460 (3.8%)

In-situ carcinoma and benign lesions

13,649 (9.5%)

Cancer

2,491 (1.7%)

Malnutrition

6,558 (4.5%)

Immune-mediated disorders

100,874 (70.0%)

Health unit-level characteristics

Index of area deprivation (quartiles)

  1 ^st (low)

93,093 (64.6)

  2 ^nd

21,249 (14.6)

  3 ^rd

18,482 (12.8)

  4 ^th (high)

11,223 (7.8)