Abstract P176: Metabolic Side Effects Of Systemic Corticosteroids - A Systematic Review

Abstract

Introduction: Metabolic adverse events associated with corticosteroid therapy (CT) are seen as a necessary evil in the management of a wide variety of inflammatory conditions. Evidence on the burden of dysglycaemia associated with CT strategies is mostly based on case- control studies. The aim of this study was to quantify metabolic side effects of systemic steroids as reported in randomised clinical trials (RCT). Methods: We searched Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science and Scopus for studies reporting adverse effects of CT in trials since database inception to 13/01/2020. We used a standardised data extraction form to collect information from eligible studies using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Cochrane risk of bias tool 2 (ROB2) was used to assess risk of bias in the RCTs. The study was registered prospectively with PROSPERO (CRD42020161270). Results: The search identified 5446 studies. In total 120 blinded studies were identified for the mixed method review of AEs. There was significant heterogeneity with respect to steroid dose, treatment duration, condition treated, exclusion criteria in the studies, data collection methods for adverse events (AE) and definition for specific AEs. A significant increase in cases of new onset diabetes, hyperglycaemia, episodes of rise in blood pressure (BP) was noted. Average adverse event rate for new onset of diabetes in the studies (N=21, 27 CT arms) was 4.8% (72 events in 1477 participants, range: 0.85%-18.75%). Event rate of hyperglycaemia in the CT arms was 11.8% approximately (53 CT arms, 222 events in 1854 participants, range: 2.5%-69%). Rise in BP was reported in 53 CT arms in 42 studies, with average event rate of 12.8% (160 events in 1251 participants, range: 0.94%-30.4%). Other significant AEs associated with steroid use included weight gain, dyslipidaemia, insomnia, infections, osteoporosis and fractures. Conclusions: Risk of new onset diabetes and worsening of diabetes control is significant in patients treated with CT, although available evidence to estimate risk is heterogenous. Both, alternatives to corticosteroids which do not elevate blood glucose and accurate estimation of risk of dysglycaemia from well-designed prospective RCTs are urgently required.