“…Associated morbidities were assessed up to 3 years prior to cohort entry. They included stroke/transient ischemic attack, hypertension, dyslipidemia, cardiomyopathy, coronary artery disease, acute myocardial infarction, peripheral vascular disease (PVD), chronic heart failure, anemia, chronic kidney disease (CKD), severe kidney disease (creatinine clearance < 30 ml /min), acute renal failure, liver disease, diabetes mellitus, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), history of MB, and prior Helicobacter Pylori infection [ 40 , 50 , 51 ]. The CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc score (stroke risk), a modified HAS-BLED (bleeding risk) excluding labile INR, and the Charlson-Deyo comorbidity index, were assessed up to 3-years prior to cohort entry ( S2 and S3 Tables for coding algorithms).…”