Characteristics of patients dispensed prednisone and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs: N=546.
| TREATMENT CATEGORY* | PREDNISONE STOPPED WITHIN 1 YEAR OF DMARD INITIATION | PREDNISONE CONTINUED AFTER 1 YEAR OF DMARD INITIATION | DMARD ONLY | PREDNISONE ONLY | NEITHER DMARD NOR PREDNISONE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. (%) | 71 (13) | 139 (25) | 149 (27) | 48 (9) | 139 (25) |
| Female:male, n (% of treatment group†‡) | 54:17 (76:24) | 101:28 (73:27) | 108:41 (72:28) | 34:24 (59:41) | 89:50 (64:36) |
| Age, y, mean (SD) | 60 (15) | 65 (15) | 61 (16) | 59 (17) | 58 (16) |
| Deprivation category, n (%)§ | |||||
| • 1 | 31 (43) | 45 (32) | 56 (38) | 12 (25) | 43 (31) |
| • 2-3 | 31 (43) | 59 (42) | 62 (42) | 7 (15) | 58 (42) |
| • 4-5 | 0 (0) | 24 (17) | 19 (13) | 5 (10) | 31 (22) |
| RDCI, median (IQR) | 2 (1-3) | 2 (1-3) | 1 (0-2) | 2 (1-3) | 1 (0-2) |
| Asthma and-or COPD | 10 (14) | 24 (17) | 20 (13) | 13 (27) | 24 (17) |
| No. of visits, median (IQR) | 51 (33-86) | 45 (21-84) | 41 (21-71) | 44 (24-76) | 41 (22-67) |
| Duration in primary care, y, mean (SD) | 8 (4) | 7 (5) | 7 (4) | 6 (4) | 7 (4) |
| Academic clinic, n (%) | 42 (59) | 88 (63) | 86 (56) | 18 (38) | 139 (47) |
COPD—chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, DMARD—disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, IQR—interquartile range, RDCI—Rheumatic Disease Comorbidity Index, SD—standard deviation.
↵* Treatment categories reflect presence or absence of medications in the Pharmaceutical Information Network records over the entire study period.
↵† Statistical comparisons between treatment groups revealed no significant differences in demographic or clinical characteristics (P>.05 for all comparisons).
↵‡ Numbers might not add up to 100% owing to missing data.
↵§ Deprivation categories are based on material deprivation indices by postal code. People living in level 5 areas are likely to be the most disadvantaged in terms of access to income, education, employment, housing, and essential services.