Prevalence and outcomes of patients taking oral corticosteroids for over 1 month undergoing major surgery in England 2010-2020.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Approximately 1% of the UK population is prescribed oral corticosteroids at any one time. It is not known how many of these patients present for major surgery. We aimed to establish the prevalence, characteristics and outcomes of patients taking oral corticosteroids.

Methods

We identified patients aged > 18 y undergoing major surgery between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2020 from Hospital Episode Statistics with linked Clinical Practice Research Datalink data and the Office for National Statistics Mortality register in England. Prescribing data were used to define three sets of patients: 'low-dose' - taking ≤ 7.5 mg oral prednisolone equivalents per day for at least 28/91 days before surgery; 'high-dose' - taking > 7.5 mg oral prednisolone equivalents per day for a

SUBMITTER: Harris J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11885188 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature