Comparison 1. Systemic corticosteroid versus no corticosteroid regimen.

Outcome or subgroup title	No. of studies	No. of participants	Statistical method	Effect size
1 ESKD	8	741	Risk Ratio (IV, Random, 95% CI)	0.39 [0.23, 0.65]
1.1 Steroid (oral) versus placebo or usual care	5	495	Risk Ratio (IV, Random, 95% CI)	0.48 [0.27, 0.85]
1.2 Steroid (IV + oral) versus placebo or usual care	1	86	Risk Ratio (IV, Random, 95% CI)	0.14 [0.01, 2.68]
1.3 Steroid (oral) plus RASi versus RASi alone	2	160	Risk Ratio (IV, Random, 95% CI)	0.16 [0.04, 0.59]
2 Complete remission	4	305	Risk Ratio (IV, Random, 95% CI)	1.76 [1.03, 3.01]
2.1 Steroid (oral) versus placebo or usual care	2	145	Risk Ratio (IV, Random, 95% CI)	3.47 [0.71, 17.08]
2.2 Steroid plus RASi versus RASi alone	2	160	Risk Ratio (IV, Random, 95% CI)	1.41 [0.80, 2.48]
3 Doubling of serum creatinine	7	404	Risk Ratio (IV, Random, 95% CI)	0.43 [0.29, 0.65]
3.1 Steroid (oral) versus placebo or usual care	6	341	Risk Ratio (IV, Random, 95% CI)	0.45 [0.29, 0.69]
3.2 Steroid (oral) plus RASi versus RASi alone	1	63	Risk Ratio (IV, Random, 95% CI)	0.26 [0.06, 1.15]
4 Serum creatinine	7		Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	Subtotals only
4.1 Steroid versus no treatment or placebo or other non‐immunosuppressive treatment	7	211	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐21.07 [‐44.12, 1.99]
5 GFR loss: ≥ 50%	2		Risk Ratio (IV, Random, 95% CI)	Subtotals only
5.1 Steroid (oral) versus placebo or usual care	2	326	Risk Ratio (IV, Random, 95% CI)	0.56 [0.25, 1.24]
6 Annual GFR loss [mL/min/1.73 m2]	2	359	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐5.40 [‐8.55, ‐2.25]
6.1 Steroid (oral) versus placebo or usual care	1	262	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐5.16 [‐9.79, ‐0.53]
6.2 Steroid (oral) plus RASi versus RASi alone	1	97	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐5.61 [‐9.91, ‐1.31]
7 GFR (any measure)	4		Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	Subtotals only
7.1 Steroid versus no treatment or placebo or other non‐immunosuppressive treatment	4	138	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	17.87 [4.93, 30.82]
8 Urinary protein excretion	10	705	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.58 [‐0.84, ‐0.33]
8.1 Steroid plus dipyridamole versus dipyridamole alone	1	48	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.37 [‐0.78, 0.04]
8.2 Steroid versus no treatment or placebo or other non‐immunosuppressive treatment	9	657	Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.63 [‐0.92, ‐0.33]
9 Death (any cause)	1		Risk Ratio (IV, Random, 95% CI)	Totals not selected
9.1 Steroid (oral) versus placebo or usual care	1		Risk Ratio (IV, Random, 95% CI)	0.0 [0.0, 0.0]
10 Infection	1		Risk Ratio (IV, Random, 95% CI)	Totals not selected
10.1 Steroid (oral) versus placebo or usual care	1		Risk Ratio (IV, Random, 95% CI)	0.0 [0.0, 0.0]
11 Malignancy	1		Risk Ratio (IV, Random, 95% CI)	Totals not selected
11.1 Steroid (IV + oral) versus placebo or usual care	1		Risk Ratio (IV, Random, 95% CI)	0.0 [0.0, 0.0]