Table 2. Characteristics of included studies comparing SLE with and without vertebral fractures.

Study	Setting	Ethnicity	SLE patients with vertebral fractures				SLE patients without vertebral fractures				Menstrual status in SLE		GCT dose
			Total	Age*	Female	Male	Total	Age*	Female	Male	Pre	Post	With VF	Without VF
Borba 2005	Brazil	Mixed	15	28	15	0	55	32	55	0	NR	NR	15.3± 12.7 mg/day	15.7±13.1 mg/day
Mendoza-Pinto 2009	México	Mixed	53	50	53	0	157	41	157	-	106	104	Mean cumulative dose 25.3 ± 26 g/day	Mean cumulative dose 17.2±18.2 g/day
Li 2009	China	Asian	31	55	31	0	121	46	121	-	48	104	Median dose 5.0 (3.1, 8.4) mg/day	Median dose 6.4 (4.8, 8.2)
Furukawa 2013	Japan	Asian	26	40	26	0	26	50	26	-	33	19	7.9 ± 4.5 mg/day	8.9 ±5.2 mg/day
Bonfá 2015	Brazil	NR	64	36	64	0	147	32	147	0	211	0	Cumulative dose 28.8±20.8 g	Cumulative dose 28.5±22.7 g

GCT = glucocorticoid therapy; g = grams; mg = milligrams; VF = vertebral fracture

* = mean

NR = Not reported