Table 1

Relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of upper gastrointestinal complications associated with use of steroids, aspirin, nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NA-NSAIDs), and acetaminophen


Cases
Controls



(n= 2105)
(n= 11,500)
RR*
95% CI

Steroids




     Non-use
1724
9824
Reference

     Current
90
196
1.8
1.3–2.4
     Low–medium dose
75
174
1.5
1.1–2.1
     High dose
9
13
2.9
1.2–7.3
Aspirin




     Non-use
1696
10,157
Reference

     Current
287
837
2.1
1.8–2.5
     75 mg
140
420
2.0
1.6–2.6
     150 mg
90
248
2.2
1.7–2.9
     ≥ 300 mg
57
169
2.2
1.6–3.1
NA-NSAIDs




     Non-use
1468
9746
Reference

     Current
438
758
4.1
3.6–4.8
     Low-medium dose§
92
290
2.4
1.9–3.2
     High dose§
311
449
4.7
3.9–5.6
Acetaminophen




     Non-use
1494
9532
Reference

     Current
376
1069
1.3
1.1–1.5
     < 2 g
201
852
0.9
0.8–1.1
     2 g
84
127
1.9
1.4–2.6
     ≥ 2 g
91
90
3.7
2.6–5.1

Data are for United Kingdom General Practice Research Database, 1993–1998. *Adjusted for age, sex, calendar year, ulcer history, smoking, and concomitant medication. These analyses include only current users versus non-users (no use in the past 180 days); data on recent past (between 30 and 180 days) users are not presented. There were 15 subjects with missing values for oral steroid dose. The cut-off point was 30 mg prednisolone or equivalent. There were only eight cases and nine controls who were taking doses greater than 300 mg. §These analyses include only users of a single NA-NSAID.

García Rodríguez and Hernández-Díaz Arthritis Res 2001 3:98   doi:10.1186/ar146