Table 4.

Factors associated with longterm glucocorticoid use: ≥ 90 days or ≥ 30 days of glucocorticoids 6–12 months after starting methotrexate, using multivariable logistic regression.

Variables	≥ 90 Days of Use, OR (95% CI), N = 15,610	p	≥ 30 Days of Use, OR (95% CI), N = 15,610	p
Age
< 50	Reference	—	Reference	—
50–65	0.97 (0.80–1.17)	0.73	0.91 (0.80–1.04)	0.16
65–80	0.92 (0.75–1.13)	0.41	0.85 (0.74–0.99)	0.03
≥ 80	1.07 (0.83–1.39)	0.59	0.94 (0.78–1.13)	0.53
Female	0.66 (0.54–0.81)	< 0.001	0.82 (0.72–0.94)	0.004
Race
White	Reference	—	Reference	—
Nonwhite	0.91 (0.78–1.06)	0.22	1.00 (0.90–1.12)	0.94
Unknown	0.99 (0.82–1.19)	0.90	1.00 (0.87–1.15)	0.98
Smoking	0.88 (0.78–0.98)	0.03	—	—
BMI, kg/m²	0.99 (0.98–1.00)	0.09	0.99 (0.98–0.99)	0.001
lnCRP, mg/dl	1.07 (1.02–1.13)	0.004	1.06 (1.02–1.11)	0.003
Anti-CCP–positive	1.13 (0.98–1.30)	0.10	1.12 (1.02–1.23)	0.02
Depression	—	—	1.10 (1.01–1.19)	0.03
Diabetes	0.90 (0.79–1.03)	0.12	0.82 (0.74–0.91)	< 0.001
Myocardial infarction	—	—	0.80 (0.59–1.09)	0.15
ILD	—	—	1.27 (1.03–1.55)	0.03
Charlson score	—	—	1.05 (1.02–1.08)	0.004
HCQ use	1.27 (1.08–1.49)	0.003	1.24 (1.11–1.39)	< 0.001
LEF use	1.90 (1.25–2.90)	0.003	1.60 (1.15–2.24)	0.006
Prior cDMARD	0.87 (0.75–1.00)	0.05	0.88 (0.79–0.97)	0.01

Tested but excluded from both models with p > 0.2: anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, cancer, asthma/COPD, concomitant sulfasalazine, year 2011–2014 vs 2006–2010. Excluded from ≥ 90-day model with p > 0.2: depression, coronary artery disease, ILD, Charlson score. Excluded from ≥ 30-day model with p > 0.2: smoking. cDMARD: conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; ILD: interstitial lung disease; HCQ: hydroxycholoroquine; LEF: leflunomide; BMI: body mass index; ln(CRP): natural logarithm of C-reactive protein; COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CCP: cyclic citrullinated peptide.