Characteristics of included patients using systemic glucocorticoids (n=222), inhaled glucocorticoids (n=557) and controls
| Patients using systemic GC (n=222) | Patients using inhaled GC (n=557) | Controls (n=24 106) | P value (ANOVA) | Systemic GC vs controls* | Inhaled GC vs controls* | |||
| Mean difference (95% CI) | P value | Mean difference (95% CI) | P value | |||||
| Sex: male, n (%)† | 111 (50.0) | 253 (45.4) | 12 154 (50.4) | 0.066 | ||||
| Age at time of scanning in years, mean (SD)† | 66.1 (7.2) | 63.3 (7.5) | 63.5 (7.5) | 2.4e-6 | 2.6 (1.4 to 3.7) | <0.0001 | −0.2 (−0.9 to 0.5) | 0.81 |
| Education level, n (%) | 0.66 | |||||||
| College/university degree A levels or equivalent O levels/GCSE or equivalent CSEs or equivalent NVQ, HND, HNC or equivalent Other professional qualifications None of the above Missing | 108 (48.6) 26 (11.7) 38 (17.1) 9 (4.1) 6 (2.7) 13 (5.9) 18 (8.1) 4 (1.8) | 287 (51.5) 66 (11.8) 96 (17.2) 17 (3.1) 35 (6.3) 29 (5.2) 25 (4.5) 2 (0.4) | 12 058 (50.0) 2930 (12.2) 4155 (17.2) 879 (3.6) 1396 (5.8) 1150 (4.8) 1311 (5.4) 227 (0.9) | |||||
| BMI in kg/m2, mean (SD) | 26.2 (3.9) | 26.7 (4.3) | 26.1 (4.1) | 1.0e-3 | 0.0 (−0.6 to 0.7) | 0.98 | 0.6 (0.2 to 1.0) | 1.3e-3 |
| n (%) missing | 7 (3.2) | 20 (3.6) | 1325 (5.5) | |||||
| Body fat percentage, mean (SD) | 30.9 (7.9) | 32.1 (8.3) | 30.2 (7.9) | 3.5e-8 | 0.7 (−0.5 to 1.9) | 0.36 | 1.9 (1.1 to 2.7) | <1.0e-4 |
| n (%) missing | 7 (3.2) | 20 (3.6) | 1331 (5.5) | |||||
| Smoking status, n (%) | 0.44 | |||||||
| Current Previous Never Missing | 6 (2.7) 76 (34.2) 137 (61.7) 3 (1.4) | 11 (2.0) 200 (35.9) 341 (61.2) 5 (0.9) | 647 (2.7) 7858 (32.6) 15 380 (63.8) 221 (0.9) | |||||
*Calculated using post hoc Dunnett’s test, only for those variables with a statistical difference according to the ANOVA.
†There were no missing values for the variables sex and age.
ANOVA, analysis of variance; BMI, body mass index; CSE, Certificate of Secondary Education; GC, glucocorticoids; GCSE, General Certificate of Secondary Education; HNC, Higher National Certificate; HND, Higher National Diploma; n, number; NVQ, National Vocational Qualification.