Table 1.

Characterization of the studies included in the analysis.

Year	First Author and Reference	Study Design/Protocol	Intervention	Sample Size	PMR Definition / Stage of Disease	Followup
Randomized clinical trials
1987	Lund¹²	RCT, double blind, crossover (after a single blind parallel 3 arms)	Deflazacort vs prednisone, weight ratios of 1:1.2, 1:1.5, and 1:1.8	41	Bird / maintenance phase	12 wks
1995	Littman¹³	RCT, multicenter, placebo controlled	Tenidap 120 mg/day + PDN 10 mg/day vs placebo + PDN 10 mg/Day	32	Study definition/stable disease	15 wks
1995	Krogsgaard¹⁴	RCT, double blind, controlled	Deflazacort vs prednisolone	30	Bird / new diagnoses	12 mos
1995	Di Munno¹⁵	RCT, double blind, crossover	Deflazacort vs methylprednisone	29	Study definition / new diagnoses	12 wks
1996	Krogsgaard¹⁶	RCT, double blind, controlled	Deflazacort vs prednisolone	30	Bird / new diagnoses	12 mos
1996	Ferraccioli¹⁷	RCT, open	Prednisone 15 mg vs prednisone 25 mg + MTX 10 mg/wk	24	Study definition / new diagnoses	12 mos
1998	Dasgupta¹⁸	RCT, double blind, multicenter	Methylprednisone depot vs prednisolone po	60	Study definition / new diagnoses	96 wks
2000	Salvarani¹⁹	RCT, double blind placebo controlled	Shoulder injection of 40 mg of methylprednisone	20	Healey / new diagnoses	7 mos
2004	Caporalli²⁰	RCT, multicenter, double blind, placebo controlled	MTX 10 mg/wk + GC vs placebo + GC	72	Chuang / new diagnoses	18 mos
2007	Salvarani²¹	RCT, multicenter, double blind, placebo controlled	Infliximab 3 mg/kg vs placebo	51	Healey / new diagnoses	52 wks
2010	Kreiner²²	RCT, double blind, placebo controlled	Etanercept 25 mg 2/wk vs placebo	20	Chuang / New diagnoses	2 wks
2011	Björman²³	RCT, crossover, double blind	Casein vs protein-enriched dairy product	60	Rheumatologist definition^*	20 wks
Non-randomized clinical trials
2003	Salvarani²⁴	Open, pilot, uncontrolled study	Infliximab + prednisone	4	Healey / longstanding disease	49 wks
2007	Catanoso²⁵	Clinical trial, open, uncontrolled	Etanercept 25 mg twice/wk, 24 wk	6	Healey / relapsing/longstanding	36 wks
2011	Cimmino²⁶	Clinical trial not randomized, uncontrolled	Prednisone 12.5 mg/id	60	Bird / new diagnoses	6 mos
Observational studies
1999	Weyand²⁷	Prospective observational study	NA	30	Study definition / new diagnoses	12–33 mos
2000	Cantini²⁸	Prospective observational study	NA	177	Healey / new diagnoses	5 yrs
2003	Myklebust²⁹	Prospective observational study; gender-age matched controls	NA	65	Bird or Harlim / any stage	1987–1997
2005	Salvarani³⁰	Prospective observational study	NA	94	Healey / new diagnoses	24 mos
2006	Boiardi³¹	Prospective observational study	NA	112	Healey / new diagnoses	24 mos
2007	Kremers³²	Prospective observational study	NA	364	Chuand and Hunder / new diagnoses	1970–2004
2007	Leeb³³	Prospective observational study	NA	39	Bird	18 mos
2007	Hutchings³⁴	Prospective observational, multicenter study	NA	129	Hazelman / new diagnoses	12 mos
2008	Binard³⁵	Prospective observational study	NA	89	Rheumatologist definition^*	Not defined
2008	Cimmino³⁶	Longterm followup of RCT²⁰	MTX 10 mg/wk	57	Chuang / new diagnoses	5 yrs
2008	Pulsatelli³⁷	Prospective observational study	NA	93	Healey / new diagnoses	24 mos
2009	Macchioni³⁸	Prospective observational study	NA	57	Healy / new diagnoses	41 mos
2010	Calvo³⁹	Case Cohort study	NA	20	ACR criteria (Chuang and Healey) / new diagnoses	12 mos
2010	Jiménez-Palop⁴⁰	Prospective observational, multicenter study	NA	59	Study definition / new diagnoses	12 wks
2011	Kang⁴¹	Prospective observational study	NA	781	Rheumatologist definition^* / new onset cases	3 yrs
2012	Mazzantini⁴²	Retrospective observational study	NA	222	Bird / longstanding disease	Not defined
2012	Cleuziou⁴³	Prospective observational study	NA	89	Rheumatologist definition^*	Not defined
2012	Matteson⁴⁴	Prospective observational study	NA	85	ACR/EULAR / new diagnoses	6 mos
2013	McCarthy⁴⁵	Prospective observational study	NA	60	Jones & Hazleman / new diagnoses	6 wks
2014	McCarthy⁴⁶	Prospective observational study	NA	60	Jones & Hazleman / new diagnoses	6 wks

↵* Autonomous clinical diagnoses by attending rheumatologist. PMR: polymyalgia rheumatica; RCT: randomized clinical trials; ACR: American College of Rheumatology; EULAR: European League Against Rheumatism; PDN: prednisolone; MTX: methotrexate; GC: glucocorticoid; NA: not applicable.