Half of UK patients with rheumatoid arthritis are prescribed oral glucocorticoid therapy in primary care: a retrospective drug utilisation study

Table 1 Patient characteristics thought to be potentially relevant to GC prescribing practices

Patient demographics	Age
Patient demographics	Gender
GC-associated comorbidities	Musculoskeletal	Osteoporosis, avascular necrosis, myopathy
	Endocrine/metabolic	Diabetes
	Cardiovascular	Hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, cardiovascular diseases (myocardial infarction, angina, stroke)
	Gastrointestinal	Peptic ulcer disease, pancreatitis
	Psychological/behavioural	Depression, psychosis, insomnia
Inflammatory comorbidities	Respiratory	Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, lower respiratory tract infections
	Skin diseases	Atopic eczema, cutaneous vasculitis, cutaneous lupus
	Gastrointestinal diseases	Inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease)
DMARDs	Methotrexate
	Sulfasalazine
	Hydroxychloroquine
	Leflunomide
	Other DMARDs	Cyclosporine, azathioprine, penicillamine, chloroquine, gold

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