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Table 1 Relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of upper gastrointestinal complications associated with use of steroids, aspirin, nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NA-NSAIDs), and acetaminophen

From: The risk of upper gastrointestinal complications associated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, glucocorticoids, acetaminophen, and combinations of these agents

 

Cases

Controls

  
 

(n= 2105)

(n= 11,500)

RR*

95% CI

Steroids†

    

   Non-use

1724

9824

Reference

 

   Current

90

196

1.8

1.3–2.4

   Low–medium dose†

75

174

1.5

1.1–2.1

   High dose

9

13

2.9

1.2–7.3

Aspirin

    

   Non-use

1696

10,157

Reference

 

   Current

287

837

2.1

1.8–2.5

   75 mg

140

420

2.0

1.6–2.6

   150 mg

90

248

2.2

1.7–2.9

   ≥ 300 mg‡

57

169

2.2

1.6–3.1

NA-NSAIDs

    

   Non-use

1468

9746

Reference

 

   Current

438

758

4.1

3.6–4.8

   Low-medium dose§

92

290

2.4

1.9–3.2

   High dose§

311

449

4.7

3.9–5.6

Acetaminophen

    

   Non-use

1494

9532

Reference

 

   Current

376

1069

1.3

1.1–1.5

   < 2 g

201

852

0.9

0.8–1.1

   2 g

84

127

1.9

1.4–2.6

   ≥ 2 g

91

90

3.7

2.6–5.1

  1. Data are for United Kingdom General Practice Research Database, 1993–1998. *Adjusted for age, sex, calendar year, ulcer history, smoking, and concomitant medication. These analyses include only current users versus non-users (no use in the past 180 days); data on recent past (between 30 and 180 days) users are not presented. †There were 15 subjects with missing values for oral steroid dose. The cut-off point was 30 mg prednisolone or equivalent. ‡There were only eight cases and nine controls who were taking doses greater than 300 mg. §These analyses include only users of a single NA-NSAID.
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Arthritis Research & Therapy

ISSN: 1478-6362

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