Table 1 Baseline population characteristics according to glucosamine use

N

188,576

53,433

163,900

30,685

Age, years

55.6 ± 8.1

59.1 ± 6.8

 < 0.001

56.2 ± 8.3

58.9 ± 7.5

 < 0.001

White, No. (%)

178,685 (94.8)

51,366 (96.1)

 < 0.001

155,205 (94.7)

29,721 (96.9)

 < 0.001

Townsend Deprivation Index

− 1.3 ± 3.1

− 1.8 ± 2.8

 < 0.001

− 1.2 ± 3.2

− 1.9 ± 2.8

 < 0.001

Body mass index, kg/m²

27.0 ± 5.2

27.0 ± 4.9

0.659

27.7 ± 4.2

27.7 ± 3.9

0.609

Smoking status, No. (%)

 < 0.001

 < 0.001

 Never

112,451 (59.6)

31,753 (59.4)

81,245 (49.6)

14,921 (48.6)

 Former

57,705 (30.6)

18,682 (35.0)

60,918 (37.2)

13,344 (43.5)

 Current

18,420 (9.8)

2998 (5.6)

21,737 (13.3)

2420 (7.9)

Alcohol consumption, times/week

 < 0.001

 < 0.001

 < 1

72,232 (38.3)

17,561 (32.9)

38,058 (23.2)

5497 (17.9)

 1–2

48,838 (25.9)

13,712 (25.7)

43,131 (26.3)

7605 (24.8)

 3–4

38,116 (20.2)

12,086 (22.6)

42,314 (25.8)

8870 (28.9)

 > 4

29,390 (15.6)

10,074 (18.9)

40,397 (24.6)

8713 (28.4)

Healthy diet, No. (%)

52,379 (27.8)

17,976 (33.6)

 < 0.001

31,650 (19.3)

7749 (25.3)

 < 0.001

Vitamin and mineral supplementation, No. (%)

63,844 (33.9)

33,385 (62.5)

 < 0.001

38,187 (23.3)

17,238 (56.2)

 < 0.001

Oily fish supplementation, No. (%)

46,324 (24.6)

33,114 (62.0)

 < 0.001

38,154 (23.3)

19,864 (64.7)

 < 0.001

Disease history, No. (%)

 Diabetes

6777 (3.6)

1332 (2.5)

 < 0.001

11,155 (6.8)

1481 (4.8)

 < 0.001

 Hypertension

43,183 (22.9)

12,660 (23.7)

 < 0.001

47,857 (29.2)

8667 (28.2)

 < 0.001

 High cholesterol

17,959 (9.5)

5537 (10.4)

 < 0.001

23,947 (14.6)

4628 (15.1)

0.032

 Osteoarthritis

13,450 (7.1)

10,028 (18.8)

 < 0.001

7503 (4.6)

4159 (13.6)

 < 0.001

 Rheumatoid arthritis

2652 (1.4)

774 (1.4)

0.466

1123 (0.7)

264 (0.9)

 < 0.001

 Joint pain

550 (0.3)

344 (0.6)

 < 0.001

426 (0.3)

197 (0.6)

 < 0.001

Drugs use, No. (%)

 Antihypertensive

32,608 (17.3)

9533 (17.8)

0.003

38,903 (23.7)

6879 (22.4)

 < 0.001

 Cholesterol-lowering

23,446 (12.4)

6969 (13.0)

 < 0.001

36,307 (22.2)

6834 (22.3)

0.644

 Insulin

1640 (0.9)

266 (0.5)

 < 0.001

2434 (1.5)

299 (1.0)

 < 0.001

 Aspirin

18,147 (9.6)

5774 (10.8)

 < 0.001

30,099 (18.4)

5945 (19.4)

 < 0.001

 Ibuprofen

31,174 (16.5)

10,834 (20.3)

 < 0.001

18,075 (11.0)

5133 (16.7)

 < 0.001

 Paracetamol

49,286 (26.1)

14,972 (28.0)

 < 0.001

27,481 (16.8)

5585 (18.2)

 < 0.001

 Diuretics

13,377 (7.1)

4090 (7.7)

 < 0.001

10,900 (6.7)

1942 (6.3)

0.037

Estimated glomerular filtration rate, mL/min/1.73 m²

91.5 ± 13.6

89.5 ± 12.4

 < 0.001

91.1 ± 13.3

89.7 ± 12.0

 < 0.001

Urate, umol/L

270.3 ± 66.2

271.5 ± 64.2

 < 0.001

353.2 ± 70

349.9 ± 66.5

 < 0.001