Electronic health record-based assessment of oral corticosteroid use in a population of primary care patients with asthma: an observational study

Table 3 Diagnoses associated with oral corticosteroid orders for patients with asthma

Diagnosis category	Age 12-17		Age 18-44		Age 45-64		Age ≥ 65		Total
	Count^a	Percent^b	Count^a	Percent^b	Count^a	Percent^b	Count^a	Percent^b	Count^a	Percent^b
Asthma-related	3185	4.2%	13463	17.9%	9356	12.4%	2954	3.9%	28958	38.5%
Other^c	661	0.9%	3987	5.3%	4251	5.6%	1509	2.0%	10408	13.8%
Other upper respiratory^d	1008	1.3%	4522	6.0%	3130	4.2%	795	1.1%	9455	12.6%
Pain syndrome	316	0.4%	3505	4.7%	3196	4.2%	1100	1.5%	8117	10.8%
Missing	368	0.5%	2168	2.9%	1635	2.2%	867	1.2%	5038	6.7%
Allergic reaction	682	0.9%	2043	2.7%	1258	1.7%	364	0.5%	4347	5.8%
Systematic inflammatory	115	0.2%	1028	1.4%	1670	2.2%	1264	1.7%	4077	5.4%
Other lower respiratory	255	0.3%	775	1.0%	611	0.8%	271	0.4%	1912	2.5%
Other skin	177	0.2%	695	0.9%	453	0.6%	157	0.2%	1482	2.0%
Neoplasms	34	0.0%	194	0.3%	350	0.5%	220	0.3%	798	1.1%
Infection	18	0.0%	223	0.3%	277	0.4%	39	0.1%	557	0.7%
Unsure	11	0.0%	44	0.1%	34	0.0%	20	0.0%	109	0.1%
COPD	1	0.0%	6	0.0%	13	0.0%	14	0.0%	34	0.0%

^aColumn total does not equal the total number of distinct orders because each individual order can potentially have multiple diagnosis categories. Each diagnosis category represents a distinct count of orders.
^bPercentages were calculated relative to the total number of prescription diagnoses (N = 75,292) associated with all OCS medication orders (N = 60,355) among asthma patients.
^cOther includes included pain syndrome, endocrine, head and neck disorders, hematologic, infections and autoimmune conditions.
^dOther upper respiratory includes rhinitis (allergic and chronic), chronic sinusitis, nasal polyps, tonsillitis and other conditions of the septum and larynx.

ISSN: 1710-1492