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Table 4 Odds ratios for the 11 study outcomes in relation to oral prednisolone use among asthma patients, by current, recent or past use

From: Adverse events profile of oral corticosteroids among asthma patients in the UK: cohort study with a nested case-control analysis

Use of oral prednisolone

Bone-related conditions

Hypertension

Peptic ulcer

Severe Infectionsa

Herpes zoster

DM2

Cataract

Glaucoma

CKD

Affective disorders

Cardiovascular events

No use (reference)

 Cases, n (%)

4558 (51.2)

4397 (54.0)

416 (49.8)

7642 (47.3)

2056 (49.4)

2571 (49.6)

2582 (48.5)

769 (52.4)

4344 (49.5)

2769 (55.8)

2096 (52.2)

 Controls, n (%)

19,038 (53.7)

17,802 (54.9)

1805 (54.2)

36,039 (56.0)

8875 (53.5)

11,071 (53.4)

10,641 (50.6)

3048 (52.3)

17,768 (51.1)

12,016 (60.7)

8827 (55.4)

Current use (<  180 d before ID)

 Cases, n (%)

846 (9.5)

654 (8.0)

80 (9.6)

2227 (13.8)

406 (9.8)

596 (11.5)

433 (8.1)

119 (8.1)

811 (9.2)

434 (8.8)

379 (9.4)

 Controls, n (%)

2614 (7.4)

2414 (7.4)

225 (6.8)

4489 (7.0)

1307 (7.9)

1617 (7.8)

1612 (7.7)

463 (7.9)

2763 (8.0)

1210 (6.1)

1138 (7.1)

 OR crude (95% CI)

1.36 (1.26–1.47)

1.10 (1.01–1.20)

1.57 (1.23–2.01)

2.38 (2.26–2.50)

1.36 (1.22–1.52)

1.60 (1.46–1.75)

1.11 (1.00–1.23)

1.02 (0.84–1.24)

1.21 (1.12–1.30)

1.58 (1.42–1.75)

1.41 (1.26–1.58)

 ORadjb (95% CI)

1.27 (1.17–1.37)

1.03 (0.94–1.12)

1.47 (1.12–1.92)

2.16 (2.05–2.27)

1.32 (1.19–1.48)

1.35 (1.22–1.49)

1.03 (0.93–1.15)

1.06 (0.87–1.29)

1.14 (1.06–1.24)

1.47 (1.32–1.63)

1.33 (1.18–1.49)

Recent use (180–365 d before ID)

 Cases, n (%)

519 (5.8)

405 (5.0)

50 (6.0)

1121 (6.9)

267 (6.4)

293 (5.7)

310 (5.8)

75 (5.1)

478 (5.5)

308 (6.2)

212 (5.3)

 Controls, n (%)

1858 (5.2)

1608 (5.0)

159 (4.8)

3087 (4.8)

889 (5.4)

1036 (5.0)

1102 (5.2)

297 (5.1)

1850 (5.3)

871 (4.4)

765 (4.8)

 OR crude (95% CI)

1.18 (1.08–1.29)

1.02 (0.92–1.13)

1.36 (1.01–1.83)

1.74 (1.63–1.86)

1.32 (1.16–1.50)

1.23 (1.09–1.39)

1.17 (1.04–1.31)

0.99 (0.75–1.26)

1.06 (0.97–1.17)

1.55 (1.38–1.75)

1.18 (1.03–1.37)

 ORadjb (95% CI)

1.12 (1.02–1.24)

0.95 (0.85–1.05)

1.19 (0.87–1.62)

1.59 (1.49–1.70)

1.29 (1.13–1.47)

1.05 (0.92–1.19)

1.12 (0.99–1.26)

1.00 (0.79–1.28)

1.00 (0.91–1.10)

1.49 (1.32–1.69)

1.11 (0.95–1.29)

Past use (>  365 d before ID)

 Cases, n (%)

2984 (33.5)

2692 (33.0)

289 (34.6)

5170 (32.0

1434 (34.5)

1729 (33.3)

2002 (37.6)

504 (34.4)

3145 (35.8)

1451 (29.2)

1327 (33.1)

 Controls, n (%)

11,935 (33.7)

10,607 (32.7)

1139 (34.2)

20,701 (32.2)

5534 (33.3)

6991 (33.8)

7664 (36.5)

2024 (34.7)

12,381 (35.6)

5712 (28.8)

5215 (32.7)

 OR crude (95% CI)

1.05 (1.00–1.10)

1.03 (0.98–1.08)

1.11 (0.95–1.30)

1.20 (1.16–1.25)

1.13 (1.05–1.21)

1.08 (1.01–1.15)

1.08 (1.02–1.15)

0.99 (0.88–1.11)

1.04 (0.99–1.09)

1.12 (1.05–1.19)

1.08 (1.01–1.16)

 ORadjb (95% CI)

1.03 (0.98–1.08)

0.97 (0.92–1.02)

1.05 (0.89–1.25)

1.14 (1.10–1.19)

1.13 (1.05–1.21)

0.98 (0.92–1.05)

1.04 (0.98–1.10)

1.00 (0.89–1.13)

1.01 (0.97–1.07)

1.10 (1.02–1.18)

1.06 (0.98–1.14)

  1. Abbreviations: CI confidence interval, CKD chronic kidney disease, d days, DM2 diabetes mellitus type 2, ID index date, OR adj adjusted odds ratio
  2. aResults from main analysis (the sensitivity analysis restricted to patients with integrated hospital episode statistics yielded similar results, data not shown)
  3. bAdjusted for alcohol consumption, smoking status, body mass index, current or past use of inhaled bronchodilators, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, platelet aggregation inhibitors, anticoagulants, proton pump inhibitors, vitamin D/calcium, bisphosphonates, immunosuppressants, number of prescriptions of inhaled corticosteroids, and Charlson Comorbidity Index