Oral corticosteroid exposure and increased risk of related complications in patients with noninfectious intermediate, posterior, or panuveitis: Real-world data analysis

ABSTRACTPurpose: This study causally examined the dose-response relationship between oral corticosteroids (OCS) exposure and long-term complications among noninfectious uveitis adult patients in the United States.Methods: The study design was longitudinal, retrospective cohort using Truven Health MarketScan claims database years 2000–2015. The index date was the first day after diagnosis on which OCS≥ 5 mg prednisone equivalent was administered. The period following the index date was parsed into quarters for tracking OCS-related complications; follow-up time was censored when patients switched off of OCS monotherapy. Each quarter of follow-up was divided into 4 groups based on the mean cumulative daily OCS dose (< 7.5 mg; 7.5 to < 30 mg; 30 to < 60 mg; and ≥ 60 mg) and covariate balancing propensity scoring was used to balance groups on baseline characteristics in the first quarter post-index. Marginal structural models (MSMs) were employed to account for time-varying endogeneity between temporal changes...