Glucocorticoid treatment: Population-based studies on utilization and selected adverse effects
New PhD thesis from DCE investigates the use of glucocorticoids, the consequences of subsequent adrenal insufficiency, and whether treatment with glucocorticoids is possibly associated with suicide.
Kristina Laugesen, who defended her PhD thesis online last week, has conducted five studies on glucocorticoid use in Denmark. She found an annual prevalence of systemic glucocorticoid use of ~3% and an annual incidence rate of ~1.4/100 person years at risk in the Danish population. Both prevalence and incidence rates were highest among women and the elderly. She also found that the lifestyle (smoking, unhealthy diet, inactivity, and high alcohol consumption) of glucocorticoids users was no different than that of never-users. Only the prevalence of obesity was slightly higher among glucocorticoid users than in never-users.
Looking at glucocorticoid users who discontinued treatment, Kristina and colleagues found that the rate of clinical factors indicating adrenal insufficiency increased 2.5-fold within a 7-month follow-up period. Based on 14,028 suicide cases and 140,278 population controls, Kristina found that new use of oral glucocorticoids was associated with a 7-fold increased risk of suicide compared to never use in people with cancer and a 2-fold increase in people without cancer.