Table 1.

Characteristics of study patients at baseline and during glucocorticoid (GC) treatment. Data are expressed as mean ± SD unless otherwise indicated.

Characteristics	Fracture Group	No-Fracture Group	p
No. patients	133	406
Age, yrs	55.4 ± 14.1	41.1 ± 15.0	< 0.001^*
Body mass index	21.3 ± 3.2	21.1 ± 3.1	NS^*
Smoking, %	18.0	18.1	NS^**
Alcohol use, %	8.6	11.3	NS^**
Menstruation, %	30.1	67.0	< 0.001^**
Followup time, mo	63.1 ± 65.3	109.3 ± 74.4	< 0.001^*
Initial dose of PSL, mg/day	38.3 ± 15.2	40.8 ± 14.1	NS^*
Mean dose of PSL, mg/day	20.1 ± 11.6	12.8 ± 6.3	< 0.001^*
Cumulative dose of PSL, g	24.8 ± 21.8	36.5 ± 27.2	< 0.001^*
GC pulse therapy, %	15.1	13.5	NS^**
No. GC dose increases
0/1/2/3/4	58/51/16/6/2	262/81/39/20/4	< 0.001^**
SLE, %	27.8	42.1	< 0.01^**
RA, %	9.0	6.9	NS^**
SS, %	10.5	15.8	NS^**
SSc/MCTD, %	15.8	11.1	NS^**
PM/DM, %	12.0	10.1	NS^**
Microscopic polyangiitis, %	9.0	2.5	< 0.01^**

PSL: prednisolone; SSc: systemic sclerosis; MCTD: mixed connective tissue disease; PM/DM: polymyositis/dermatomyositis; SLE: systemic lupus erythematosus; RA: rheumatoid arthritis.
↵* Unpaired t test.
↵** Chi-squared test.