Baseline characteristics of the patients included in and excluded from this analysis
| Characteristic | Included (N=3027) | Excluded (N=2143) | P value |
| Age (year), median (IQR) | 62.3 (54.7–71.2) | 62.3 (54.6–71.3) | 0.82 |
| Male, n (%) | 2016 (66.6) | 1404 (65.5) | 0.42 |
| Medical history, n (%) | |||
| Ischaemic stroke | 579 (19.1) | 454 (21.2) | 0.07 |
| TIA | 95 (3.1) | 79 (3.7) | 0.28 |
| Myocardial infarction | 51 (1.7) | 45 (2.1) | 0.28 |
| Angina | 93 (3.1) | 91 (4.2) | 0.02 |
| Congestive heart failure | 51 (1.7) | 29 (1.4) | 0.34 |
| Known atrial fibrillation or flutter | 56 (1.9) | 40 (1.9) | 0.97 |
| Valvular heart disease | 10 (0.3) | 4 (0.2) | 0.33 |
| Hypertension | 1975 (65.2) | 1424 (66.4) | 0.37 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 611 (20.2) | 482 (22.5) | 0.045 |
| Hypercholesterolaemia | 313 (10.3) | 260 (12.1) | 0.04 |
| Smoking status, n (%) | |||
| Never smoking | 1730 (57.2) | 1219 (56.9) | 0.98 |
| Previous smoker | 301 (9.9) | 215 (10.0) | |
| Current smoker | 996 (32.9) | 709 (33.1) | |
| Qualifying event, n (%) | 0.03 | ||
| Minor stroke | 2215 (73.2) | 1510 (70.5) | |
| TIA | 812 (26.8) | 633 (29.5) | |
| NIHSS score on admission, median (IQR) | 2 (0–2) | 1 (0–2) | 0.03 |
| Time to randomisation (hour), median (IQR) | 12.0 (6.5–19.4) | 12.0 (6.5–19.7) | 0.71 |
| Antiplatelet therapy, n (%) | 0.78 | ||
| Aspirin only | 1519 (50.2) | 1067 (49.8) | |
| Clopidogrel+aspirin | 1508 (49.8) | 1076 (50.2) | |
| Antihypertensive therapy, n (%) | 1125 (37.2) | 689 (32.7) | 0.001 |
| Antidiabetic therapy, n (%) | 375 (12.4) | 281 (13.3) | 0.32 |
| Lipid-lowering therapy, n (%) | 1267 (41.9) | 904 (42.9) | 0.45 |
NIHSS, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale; TIA, transient ischaemic attack.