Table 1.
Patient Baseline Characteristics
| Characteristics | Oral GC Users (N = 70,638) | Oral GC Nonusers (N = 41,166) |
|---|---|---|
| Sociodemographic information | ||
| Age, mean (SD), y | 59 (17.1) | 52 (18.0) |
| Men, n (%) | 24,476 (34.7) | 15,149 (36.8) |
| Ethnicity, n (%)a | ||
| White | 63,406 (89.8) | 34,331 (83.4) |
| Black | 598 (0.9) | 598 (1.5) |
| Asian | 1618 (2.3) | 1546 (3.8) |
| Index of multiple deprivation, n (%) | ||
| First (least deprived) | 12,543 (17.8) | 7221 (17.5) |
| Fifth (most deprived) | 11,378 (16.1) | 7282 (17.7) |
| Body mass index, mean (SD), kg/m2 | 27.07 (5.6) | 26.42 (5.8) |
| Chronic inflammatory disease, n (%)b | ||
| Inflammatory bowel disease | 16,598 (23.5) | 15,709 (38.2) |
| Polymyalgia rheumatica and/or giant cell arteritis | 35,007 (49.6) | 5007 (12.2) |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 19,995 (28.3) | 15,674 (38.1) |
| Systemic lupus erythematosus | 2748 (3.9) | 2678 (6.5) |
| Vasculitis | 4367 (6.2) | 3785 (9.2) |
| Biomarkers, median (IQR) | ||
| C-reactive protein, mg/L | 6 (12) | 5 (8.3) |
| Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, mm/h | 17 (24) | 13 (21) |
| Comorbidities, n (%) | ||
| Asthma | 18,217 (25.8) | 5836 (14.2) |
| Cancer | 14,412 (20.4) | 5526 (13.4) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 4152 (5.9) | 2637 (6.4) |
| Heart failure | 11,489 (16.3) | 3334 (8.1) |
| Chronic kidney disease stage 3 to 4 | 2211 (3.1) | 564 (1.4) |
| Nonoral prescribed GC in the last y, n (%) | ||
| Inhaled | 8248 (11.7) | 2120 (5.2) |
| Intramuscular | 422 (0.6) | 263 (0.6) |
| Nasal | 4491 (6.4) | 2040 (5.0) |
| Topical | 1604 (2.3) | 830 (2.0) |
| Rectal | 3099 (4.4) | 1848 (4.5) |
| Prescribed daily oral PED at follow-up start, mean (SD), mg | 17.6 (13.8) | NA |
Abbreviations: GC; glucocorticoid; IQR, interquartile range; NA, not applicable; PED, prednisolone-equivalent dose.
a
Other ethnicity (0.6%) and missing (6.3%).
b
Diagnosed before or after the start of follow-up. Patients could have more than one disease.