Table 5.

Comparison of the results from our series with previously published data (%)

	Our study	Other Asian Studies [24, 29–31]	European studies [32, 33]	North American studies [27]
Associated autoimmune disease	25.8	15–22	32.7–52	35.8–39
Infectious cause (TB)	4.2	7.2	0	0–2
Systemic steroid therapy	53.3	42.2	61.5	31.9–36.7
Immunosuppressive therapy	26.7	22.9	34–36	26.1–38.0