Trial reportThorax2001
Adverse effects of oral corticosteroids in relation to dose in patients with lung disease.
Trial report in Thorax, 2001. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 68 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
68 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 250 citations in OpenAlex.
- BAL lymphocytosis as a predictive marker for drug response and long-term outcome in fibrotic ILD: systematic review.BMJ open respiratory research · 2026Pooled it
- InhaledEuropean respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2024Pooled it
- A Meta-Analysis on Vitamin D Supplementation and Asthma Treatment.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Pooled it
- Mortality and vertebral fracture risk associated with long-term oral steroid use in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A systemic review and meta-analysis.Chronic respiratory diseasePooled it
- Reslizumab as add-on therapy in patients with refractory asthma.BMJ open respiratory research · 2020Trial
- Two different dosages of nebulized steroid versus parenteral steroid in the management of COPD exacerbations: a randomized control trial.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2014Trial
- Short course prednisolone for adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder or stiff painful shoulder): a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trial.Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2004Trial
- Patient Journey, Treatment Patterns, and Disease Burden of Patients With Idiopathic Hypereosinophilic Syndrome.EJHaem · 2026Article
- Article
- Economic impact of steroid-induced comorbidities in severe asthma: a SHARP CRC simulation.ERJ open research · 2025Article
- Article
- Twenty-Year Kidney Transplant Outcomes With Prednisone-Free Maintenance Immunosuppression: A Matched Control Analysis.Clinical transplantation · 2025Article
- Autoimmune blistering diseases treated with glucocorticoids: An international study of steroid-induced myopathy.Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV · 2025Article
- Real-world treatment patterns and clinical characteristics in patients with moderate-to-severe systemic lupus erythematosus: an analysis of the SLE Prospective Observational Cohort Study (SPOCS).Lupus science & medicine · 2025Observational
- Public Awareness of Corticosteroid Use and Side Effects: a Cross-Sectional Study from Jordan.Materia socio-medica · 2025Article
- Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia in a Patient With COVID-19 Pneumonia: A Case Report on a Rare Presentation.Cureus · 2023Article
- Putative Bidirectionality of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Periodontal Disease: A Review of the Literature.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Inhaled Corticosteroid Exposure and Risk of Cataract in Patients with Asthma and COPD: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of ophthalmology · 2023Review
- Cumulative corticosteroid-sparing effect of anti-interleukin-5/5Ra in eosinophilic asthma.The European respiratory journal · 2022Observational
- Frozen shoulder.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2022Review
8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe adverse effects of oral corticosteroids are widely recognised but there are few quantitative data on which to base advice to patients. In a two part cross sectional study we compared adverse effects in patients with lung disease taking oral corticosteroids and control subjects and related the adverse effects to corticosteroid dose in the patient group.
methodsData on oral corticosteroid use, lifestyle, fractures, and other possible adverse effects were collected by questionnaire and compared between a community based cohort of patients taking continuous or frequent intermittent oral corticosteroids for asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or alveolitis and age and sex matched control subjects. Dose related effects were explored in the corticosteroid group using cumulative dose quartiles and multiple logistic regression.
resultsA total of 367 patients (> or = 50 years, 48% female) and 734 control subjects completed the questionnaire. The cumulative incidence of fractures since the time of diagnosis was 23% for patients taking oral corticosteroids and 15% in the control group (odds ratio (OR) 1.8; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3 to 2.6). Patients were more likely to have had a fracture of the vertebrae (OR 10; 95% CI 2.9 to 34), hip (OR 6; 95% CI 1.2 to 30), and ribs or sternum (OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.6 to 6.6) than control subjects. They also reported a significant increase in cataracts, use of antacids, muscle weakness, back pain, bruising, oral candidiasis, and having fewer teeth. The effects of oral corticosteroids were dose related: the odds ratio for patients in the highest compared with the lowest cumulative dose quartile (median prednisolone dose 61 g versus 5 g) ranged from 2 for all fractures to 9 for vertebral fractures and bruising.
conclusionsBy quantifying the morbidity associated with the use of oral corticosteroids, this study should help to rationalise their long term use.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.