AER-COMED (sub-projects 4): Prescription of glucocorticoids and associated comorbidities in patients with spondyloarthritis

Glucocorticoids are drugs that act in a similar way to the body’s own hormone cortisol. They help to inhibit inflammation. The use of glucocorticoids in spondyloarthritis should be scrutinised very critically, as it does not generally comply with current medical guidelines. This sub-project is investigating how often, in what doses and for how long patients with axial spondyloarthritis (inflammatory disease of the spine) or psoriatic arthritis (inflammatory diseases of the joints in patients with psoriasis) are prescribed glucocorticoids. The focus is on adverse events such as skin deterioration, severe infections, osteoporosis, diabetes or cardiovascular diseases that could be related to glucocorticoid therapy. The data comes from the long-term RABBIT-SpA study, which has been running since 2017.