Incidence of symptomatic vertebral fractures in women of childbearing age newly treated with high-dose glucocorticoid.
BACKGROUND
The treatment and prevention of glucocorticoid (GC)-induced osteoporosis have been controversial in premenopausal women during their childbearing years.


OBJECTIVE
This study assessed the incidence and risk factors for symptomatic vertebral fracture in women of childbearing age newly treated with high-dose GC.


METHODS
An observational cohort study was conducted at the rheumatic center of Shimoshizu National Hospital in Chiba, Japan, from 1986 to 2006. The prevalence of symptomatic vertebral fractures, as determined by x-rays, was assessed in premenopausal (aged <50 years) women with collagen vascular disease newly treated with high-dose GC (> or =20 mg/d prednisolone equivalent) compared with their counterparts who did not receive GC. Differences in the incidences of vertebral fractures were compared between groups by the Kaplan-Meier method and evaluated by the log-rank test. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% CIs were estimated using the Cox proportional hazards regression model.


RESULTS
A total of 373 women were assessed: 292 patients in the high-dose GC treatment group (mean [SD] initial age, 32.4 [8.2] years; initial dose, 43.8 [14.9] mg/d; follow-up time, 124.2 [75.4] months) and 81 patients in the non-GC control group (initial age, 39.3 [7.8] years; follow-up time, 106.5 [79.7] months). Symptomatic vertebral fractures occurred more frequently in the high-dose GC group (11.3%) than in the non-GC group (1.2%). Using the Cox model, the adjusted HR for the high-dose GC group was 13.96 (95% CI, 1.87-104.22) relative to the non-GC group. In the high-dose GC group, Kaplan-Meier analyses revealed that the incidence of fractures in women in their forties was significantly higher in comparison with those in their twenties (P < 0.001) and thirties (P < 0.05), and that the incidence of fractures in those who consumed alcohol (>80 g/wk of pure alcohol) was significantly higher than in those who did not (P < 0.05). The Cox model also revealed that the risk was independently higher with every 10-year increment of initial age (HR = 2.27; 95% CI, 1.46-3.53), with every GC dose increase (HR = 2.28; 95% CI, 1.58-3.31), and with each 1-gram decrease of cumulative GC dose (HR = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.93-0.98).


CONCLUSIONS
In this study, high-dose GC use was associated with a significantly high prevalence of symptomatic vertebral fractures in premenopausal women with collagen vascular disease during their childbearing years. However, the fracture risk was relatively low in women of childbearing age, especially those in their twenties and thirties during the early years of treatment.
Sugiyama
Takao
T
Department of Clinical Cell Biology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, Japan.
Suzuki
Sawako
S
Yoshida
Tomohiko
T
Suyama
Keiko
K
Tanaka
Tomoaki
T
Sueishi
Makoto
M
Tatsuno
Ichiro
I
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008875:Middle Aged; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D017697:Premenopause; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012306:Risk; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D016103:Spinal Fractures / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D016387:Women's Health; D055815:Young Adult
D005938:Glucocorticoids; D011239:Prednisolone