Table 2

Factors associated with prescription of DXA, calcium and vitamin D supplements, and osteoporosis medications

	DXA performed	Any treatment delivered
	Adjusted OR (CI)	Adjusted OR (CI)
Female (vs male)	5.1 (4.3 to 6.0)*	2.3 (2.1 to 2.5)*
Age >55 years (vs age ≤55 years)	3.9 (3.3 to 4.6)*	2.7 (2.5 to 2.9)*
Specialty of initial GC prescriber (vs PCP)	*	*
Rheumatologist	3.0 (2.4 to 3.7)*	2.5 (2.1 to 3.0)*
Pulmonologist	1.0 (0.6 to 1.5)^NS	0.9 (0.7 to 1.2)^NS
Gastroenterologist	1.3 (0.7 to 2.5)^NS	1.7 (1.2 to 2.3)^δ
Internist	1.4 (0.7 to 2.5)^NS	2.2 (1.5 to 3.3)^δ
Other	1.2 (0.9 to 1.4)^NS	1.0 (0.9 to 1.1)^NS
Not recorded†	1.2 (1.1 to 1.5)^δ	1.5 (1.3 to 1.6)*
Mean GC dosage >15 mg/day (vs ≤15 mg/day)	1.1 (0.9 to 1.2)*	1.8 (1.7 to 2.0)*
RA (vs other diagnoses)	2.0 (1.5 to 2.5)*	2.6 (2.2 to 3.2)*
Chronic respiratory failure (vs other diagnoses)	0.5 (0.3 to 0.9)^δ	1.3 (1.0 to 1.6)^NS
Autoimmune disease‡ (vs other diagnoses)	2.4 (1.9 to 3.1)*	4.7 (3.6 to 6.1)*
Asthma (vs other diagnoses)	1.0 (0.6 to 1.7)^NS	1.1 (0.8 to 1.5)^NS
IBD (vs other diagnoses)	1.2 (0.7 to 2.0)^NS	2.2 (1.7 to 2.8)*
DXA performed (vs not performed)		4.6 (4.0 to 5.4)*

*p<10⁻⁶, ^δp<0.05.
†Specialty of hospital-based physicians was not recorded in the database.
‡Defined in this study as systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren's syndrome and polyarteritis nodosa.
DXA, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry; GC, glucocorticoid; IBD, inflammatory bowel disease; NS, non-significant; PCP, primary care physician; RA, rheumatoid arthritis.