Characteristics of included studies
| Chronic Inflammatory disease | Transplantation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cohorts | 49 | 18 | ||
| RCT arms | 34 | 9 | ||
| Patients (n, n with follow-up) | 1818, 1519 | 635, 571 | ||
| Diagnosis | RA | 313 | Kidney | 450 |
| SLE | 200 | Heart | 78 | |
| PMR | 91 | Lung | 18 | |
| Mixed | 915 | Liver | 25 | |
| Women (%) | 71 | 34 | ||
| Mean age (years) | 51 | 46 | ||
| Starters (% patients) | 32 | 87 | ||
| Patients on Ca/D (%) | 67 | 72 | ||
| Mean GC dose (mg/day) range | 9.3 1.2–16.4 | 15.7 6.0–52.7 | ||
| 1–year change in BMD (% of baseline) | ||||
| Lumbar spine mean* 95% CI | − 1.7 –2.2 to –1.2 | − 3.6 –5.2 to –2.0 | ||
| Femoral neck mean* 95% CI | − 1.3 –1.8 to –0.7 | − 3.1 –5.1 to –1.1 | ||
*All within-group changes, p<0.001.
BMD, bone mineral density; Ca/D, use of calcium or vitamin D; GC, glucocorticoids; PMR, polymyalgia rheumatica; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; RCT, randomised controlled trial; SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus.