Prophylaxis with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for PCP in patients treated with GC
| Author-year/country | Patients (N) | GC scheme | Prophylaxis* N (%) | Outcome of prophylaxis | RoB |
| Park et al170 2018/South Korea | 1092 (1522 episodes†) | ≥30 mg/day for ≥4 weeks | 262 (24.0) | Reduced PCP incidence HR=0.07 (95% CI 0.01 to 0.53), p=0.01 | 8 |
| Honda et al168 2019/Japan | 437 | ≥50 mg/day | 376 (86.0) | Reduced PCP incidence OR=0 (95% CI 0.00 to 0.38), p=0.003 | 7 |
| Park et al169 2019/South Korea | 735 (1065 episodes†) | ≥15 mg and <30 mg for ≥4 weeks | 45 (6.1) | Reduced PCP incidence in high risk-group‡ HR=0.2 (0.001–2.3) | 7 |
| Ogawa et al171 2005/Japan | 124 | ≥30 mg/day | 46 (37.1) | Effective in high-risk patients§, p=0.039 | 7 |
| Vananuvat et al172 2011/Thailand | 132 (138 episodes†) | ≥20 prednisolone for >2 weeks | 59 (44.7) | Reduced PCP incidence, p=0.038 | 6 |
*Prophylaxis given in (% episodes): trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole 480 mg/day or three tablets of 480 mg, weekly.
†Episode: a patient could be treated with these doses of glucocorticoids more than once.
‡High-risk group: GC-pulse treatment and/or lymphopenia.
§Risk was calculated using a prediction model.
AIIRD, autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases; GC, glucocorticoids; PCP, pneumocystis pneumonia; RoB, risk of bias.