Table II.
Results from the SCCS analysis for the use of oral glucocorticoid and risk of first VTE. A total of 363 patients with a first VTE from the MEGA Study (the Netherlands, 1999–2004) received at least one outpatient prescription of oral glucocorticoids and were included in the SCCS analysis.
| All VTE episodes | |
|---|---|
| Oral glucocorticoid | (363 cases) |
| IRR (95% CI) | |
| Any oral glucocorticoid | |
| No oral glucocorticoid | reference |
| Use of glucocorticoid | 3·51 (2·50; 4·88) |
| Type of glucocorticoid drug | |
| No oral glucocorticoid | reference |
| Prednisone Prednisolone or Triamcinolon | 3·15 (2·23; 4·55) |
| Dexamethasone or Betamethasone | 3·39 (1·80; 6·56) |
| Initial daily equivalent prednisolone dose* | |
| 0 mg | reference |
| ≤7·5 mg | 3·68 (2·07; 6·45) |
| 7·5–20 mg | 3·08 (1·89; 4·92) |
| 21–39 mg | 3·72 (1·91; 7·23) |
| ≥40 mg | 4·04 (2·13; 7·67) |
| 30‐day cumulative equivalent prednisolone dose at the time of VTE# | |
| 0 mg | Reference |
| ≤300 mg | 3·38 (2·28; 5·02) |
| 300–2000 mg | 3·51 (2·34; 5·33) |
| >2000 mg | 4·87 (1·72; 14·01) |
| Days since prescription start date | |
| No oral glucocorticoid | reference |
| 7 days before prescription | 2·53 (1·10; 5·72) |
| First 7 days with glucocorticoid treatment | 5·28 (2·89; 9·53) |
| 8–30 days with glucocorticoid treatment | 3·83 (2·32; 6·34) |
| 31–180 days with glucocorticoid treatment | 3·59 (2·41; 5·27) |
| >180 days with glucocorticoid treatment | 1·55 (0·85; 3·12) |
CI, confidence interval; IRR, incidence rate ratio; MEGA study, Multiple Environmental and Genetic Assessment of Risk Factors for Venous Thrombosis Case‐Control Study; SCCS, self‐controlled case series; VTE, venous thromboembolism.
*
Initial daily doses were obtained from the first prescription of the treatment.
#
Cumulative dose was calculated by summing the consecutive daily doses in the last 30 days of the treatment.