Baseline characteristics of the patients stratified by age
| Characteristics | <65 (N=3251) | 65–80 (N=2755) | ≥80 (N=406) | P value |
| Median age—year | 56.2±6.1 | 71.2±4.2 | 83.9±3.2 | <0.0001 |
| Female sex—no (%) | 901 (27.7) | 1072 (38.9) | 197 (48.5) | <0.0001 |
| Han ethnicity—no (%) | 3181 (97.9) | 2702 (98.1) | 399 (98.3) | 0.74 |
| Medical history—no (%) | ||||
| Hypertension | 2338 (71.9) | 2089 (75.8) | 303 (74.6) | 0.003 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 1046 (32.2) | 889 (32.3) | 107 (26.4) | 0.049 |
| Dyslipidaemia | 1025 (31.5) | 682 (24.8) | 76 (18.7) | <0.0001 |
| Previous ischaemic stroke | 590 (18.2) | 673 (24.4) | 87 (21.4) | <0.0001 |
| Previous TIA | 48 (1.5) | 36 (1.3) | 4 (1.0) | 0.67 |
| Myocardial infarction | 32 (1.0) | 53 (1.9) | 11 (2.7) | 0.001 |
| Current smoking—no (%) | 1266 (38.9) | 675 (24.5) | 40 (9.9) | <0.0001 |
| Current drinking—no (%) | 857 (26.4) | 462 (16.8) | 48 (11.8) | <0.0001 |
| CYP2C19 LOF allele carriers—no (%) | 0.69 | |||
| Intermediate metabolisers | 2528 (77.8) | 2161 (78.4) | 312 (76.9) | |
| Poor metabolisers | 723 (22.2) | 594 (21.6) | 94 (23.2) | |
| Median time to randomisation (IQR)—hour | 14.3 (9.2–20.7) | 13.6 (8.8–20.4) | 12.8 (8.3–19.8) | 0.007 |
| Qualifying event—no (%) | 0.87 | |||
| Ischaemic stroke | 2622 (80.7) | 2208 (80.2) | 328 (80.8) | |
| TIA | 629 (19.4) | 547 (19.9) | 78 (19.2) | |
| Median NIHSS score in patients with qualifying ischaemic stroke (IQR) | 2 (1–3) | 2 (1–3) | 2 (1–3) | 0.46 |
| Median ABCD2 score in patients with qualifying TIA (IQR) | 4 (4–5) | 4 (4–5) | 4 (4–5) | <0.0001 |
| Previous antiplatelet therapy—no (%) | 318 (9.8) | 376 (13.7) | 54 (13.3) | <0.0001 |
| Previous lipid-lowering therapy—no (%) | 209 (6.4) | 249 (9.0) | 41 (10.1) | 0.0002 |
| Symptomatic intracranial artery stenosis | 737 (24.6) | 759 (29.7) | 143 (38.8) | <0.0001 |
| Symptomatic extracranial artery stenosis | 104 (3.5) | 142 (5.6) | 25 (6.8) | 0.0001 |
LOF, loss-of-function; NIHSS, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale; TIA, transient ischaemic attack.