Relative incidence of oral steroid prescribing in active asthma patients with sufficient follow-up after the new oral β-blocker prescription
| β-Blocker | Steroid | Time period | Patients with oral steroids (%) | Incidence rate ratio (95% CI) | p Value |
| Any β-blocker (n=869) | Rescue | Baseline | 6.6 (0.8) | 1.00 | |
| 0–2 weeks | 6.0 (0.7) | 0.92 (0.40 to 2.12) | 0.837 | ||
| 2–4 weeks | 8.0 (0.9) | 1.24 (0.60 to 2.58) | 0.560 | ||
| >4 weeks | 3.8 (0.4) | 0.84 (0.55 to 1.27) | 0.401 | ||
| Any | Baseline | 11.7 (1.3) | 1.00 | ||
| 0–2 weeks | 19.0 (2.2) | 1.63 (1.00 to 2.65) | 0.051 | ||
| 2–4 weeks | 13.0 (1.5) | 1.12 (0.63 to 1.99) | 0.707 | ||
| >4 weeks | 11.3 (1.3) | 0.97 (0.72 to 1.32) | 0.852 | ||
| Cardioselective (n=601) | Rescue | Baseline | 4.9 (0.8) | 1.00 | |
| 0–2 weeks | 5.0 (0.8) | 1.02 (0.41 to 2.58) | 0.962 | ||
| 2–4 weeks | 7.0 (1.2) | 1.45 (0.65 to 3.20) | 0.361 | ||
| >4 weeks | 4.5 (0.7) | 0.92 (0.57 to 1.48) | 0.728 | ||
| Any | Baseline | 8.9 (1.5) | 1.00 | ||
| 0–2 weeks | 14.0 (2.3) | 1.57 (0.89 to 2.78) | 0.117 | ||
| 2–4 weeks | 11.0 (1.8) | 1.24 (0.66 to 2.32) | 0.509 | ||
| >4 weeks | 9.0 (1.5) | 1.01 (0.72 to 1.43) | 0.944 | ||
| Non-selective (n=268) | Rescue | Baseline | 1.7 (0.6) | 1.00 | |
| 0–2 weeks | 1.0 (0.4) | 0.61 (0.08 to 4.50) | 0.626 | ||
| 2–4 weeks | 1.0 (0.4) | 0.60 (0.08 to 4.44) | 0.613 | ||
| >4 weeks | 1.0 (0.4) | 0.60 (0.25 to 1.44) | 0.250 | ||
| Any | Baseline | 2.8 (1.0) | 1.00 | ||
| 0–2 weeks | 5.0 (1.9) | 1.78 (0.68 to 4.63) | 0.244 | ||
| 2–4 weeks | 2.0 (0.7) | 0.71 (0.17 to 3.00) | 0.642 | ||
| >4 weeks | 2.3 (0.9) | 0.84 (0.45 to 1.57) | 0.585 |
Figures shown for baseline and >4 weeks are the mean number of patients prescribed oral steroids per 2 weeks.