Table 2.
Imaging parameters, presented as the adjusted mean difference of patients using systemic glucocorticoids (GC) (n=222) or inhaled GC (n=557) compared with controls (n=24 106)
| ANOVA | Systemic GC versus controls | Inhaled GC versus controls | |||||||
| F value | P value | PFDR | AMD* | 95% CI | P value | AMD* | 95% CI | P value | |
| Volumetric measures | |||||||||
| Global volumes (in mm3) | |||||||||
| Total brain volume | 19.7 | 2.8e-9 | 1.0e-8 | −3688 | −10627 to 3252 | 0.39 | 3374 | −1012 to 7760 | 0.16 |
| Grey matter volume | 23.7 | 5.4e-11 | 6.5e-10 | −1968 | −5904 to 1968 | 0.43 | 1012 | −1476 to 3500 | 0.57 |
| White matter volume | 6.7 | 1.2e-3 | 2.0e-3 | −1720 | −6273 to 2833 | 0.61 | 2362 | −516 to 5240 | 0.13 |
| Peripheral cortex | 21.1 | 6.9e-10 | 6.2e-9 | −3303 | −6843 to 237 | 0.072 | 1033 | −1205 to 3270 | 0.49 |
| CSF volume | 10.1 | 4.2e-5 | 9.5e-5 | 1215 | −824 to 3254 | 0.32 | 78 | −1211 to 1367 | 0.98 |
| Subcortical volumes (in mm3) | |||||||||
| Accumbens | 12.0 | 6.0e-6 | 1.7e-5 | −13.1 | −26.7 to 0.5 | 0.062 | −6.5 | −15.1 to 2.1 | 0.17 |
| Caudate | 6.7 | 1.3e-3 | 2.0e-3 | 77.8 | 24.5 to 131.1 | 0.0023 | −2.7 | −36.4 to 30.9 | 0.97 |
| Pallidum | 7.7 | 4.5e-4 | 7.8e-4 | 0.8 | −29.9 to 31.4 | 1.00 | −18.0 | −37.3 to 1.4 | 0.074 |
| Putamen | 10.9 | 1.8e-5 | 4.6e-5 | −31.3 | −98.2 to 35.6 | 0.48 | −27.9 | −70.2 to 14.4 | 0.25 |
| Thalamus | 8.2 | 2.7e-4 | 4.9e-4 | 3.6 | −74.0 to 81.1 | 0.99 | −6.4 | −55.4 to 42.6 | 0.93 |
| Regional grey matter volumes (in mm3) | |||||||||
| Amygdala | 23.8 | 5.0e-11 | 6.5e-10 | −4.0 | −31.9 to 23.8 | 0.91 | −23.9 | −41.5 to −6.2 | 5.2e-3 |
| Caudate | 13.0 | 2.3e-6 | 7.5e-6 | 178.7 | 82.2 to 275.0 | 1.0e-4 | 41.2 | −19.8 to 102.0 | 0.24 |
| Cerebellum | 10.8 | 2.0e-5 | 4.8e-5 | 25.1 | −18.4 to 68.5 | 0.34 | −12.2 | −39.7 to 15.3 | 0.51 |
| Insular cortex | 8.5 | 2.0e-4 | 3.9e-4 | −36.2 | −108.4 to 36.0 | 0.43 | 5.0 | −40.6 to 50.7 | 0.95 |
| Precuneal cortex | 5.5 | 4.3e-3 | 5.6e-3 | −21.5 | −179.0 to 136.3 | 0.92 | −7.4 | −107.0 to 92.4 | 0.97 |
| DTI measures | |||||||||
| Fractional anisotropy | |||||||||
| Global | 19.2 | 4.6e-9 | 2.8e-8 | −0.0037 | −0.0064 to −0.0010 | 4.2e-3 | −0.0023 | −0.0040 to −5.7e-4 | 5.7e-3 |
| Body of corpus callosum | 10.0 | 4.7e-5 | 1.0e-4 | −0.0043 | −0.0084 to −1.2e-4 | 0.043 | −0.0023 | −0.0049 to 3.0e-4 | 0.092 |
| Genu of corpus callosum | 16.8 | 5.4e-8 | 2.1e-7 | −0.0064 | −0.011 to −0.0017 | 5.0e-3 | −0.0019 | −0.0049 to 0.0011 | 0.27 |
| Splenium of corpus callosum | 5.4 | 4.4e-3 | 5.6e-3 | −0.0021 | −0.0053 to 0.0012 | 0.27 | −0.0032 | −0.0052 to −0.0012 | 1.0e-3 |
| Cingulum cingulate | 6.1 | 2.4e-3 | 3.4e-3 | −0.0017 | −0.0062 to 0.0028 | 0.61 | −0.0028 | −0.0057 to 8.9e-6 | 0.051 |
| Cingulum hippocampus | 6.4 | 1.7e-3 | 2.5e-3 | 6.5e-5 | −0.0046 to 0.0048 | 1.00 | −3.4e-3 | −0.0063 to −3.8e-4 | 0.024 |
| Mean diffusivity | |||||||||
| Global | 25.9 | 5.8e-12 | 2.1e-10 | 7.2e-6 | 3.2e-6 to 1.1e-5 | 1.0e-4 | 2.7e-6 | 1.7e-7 to 5.2e-6 | 0.034 |
| Body of corpus callosum | 15.5 | 2.0e-7 | 7.0e-7 | 6.9e-6 | 1.7e-6 to 1.2e-5 | 6.0e-3 | 4.8e-6 | 1.6e-6 to 8.1e-6 | 2.0e-3 |
| Genu of corpus callosum | 18.0 | 1.6e-8 | 7.0e-8 | 8.4e-6 | 2.2e-6 to 1.5e-5 | 4.9e-3 | 4.1e-6 | 1.7e-7 to 8.0e-6 | 0.039 |
| Splenium of corpus callosum | 9.7 | 6.2e-5 | 1.2e-4 | 4.4e-6 | −3.8e-8 to 8.9e-6 | 0.050 | 5.3e-6 | 2.4e-6 to 8.1e-6 | 1.0e-4 |
| Cingulum cingulate | 5.4 | 4.3e-3 | 5.6e-3 | 2.9e-6 | −8.5e-7 to 6.6e-6 | 0.16 | 2.8e-6 | 4.7e-7 to 5.2e-6 | 0.015 |
| Cingulum hippocampus | 18.5 | 9.1e-9 | 4.7e-8 | 5.0e-6 | 4.2e-7 to 9.5e-6 | 0.029 | 5.6e-6 | 2.8e-6 to 8.5e-6 | <1.03–4 |
| Uncinate fasciculus | 12.1 | 5.4e-6 | 1.6e-5 | 6.4e-6 | 2.2e-6 to 1.1e-5 | 1.4e-3 | 2.2e-6 | −4.4e-7 to 4.9e-6 | 0.12 |
P values in bold are statistically significant (p<0.05).
*Adjusted mean difference, calculated using linear models, adjusted for age, sex, education, X position, Y position and Z position of the head in the scanner, head size, assessment centre and year of imaging acquisition; significance was determined using a post hoc Dunnett’s test.
AMD, adjusted mean difference; ANOVA, analysis of variance; CSF, cerebrospinal fluid; DTI, diffusion tensor imaging; PFDR, Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate corrected p values.