Figure 1

Regression of lumbosacral bone mineral density on the daily dose of inhaled corticosteroid in a cross-sectional analysis of bone density in 69 corticosteroid-dependent adults with moderate to severe chronic asthma [4]. The calculated mean regression (±95% confidence limits) is adjusted to control for the effects of age, sex, years of estrogen use, physical activity, the current daily dose of prednisone, years of prednisone use, and the cumulative lifetime dose of inhaled corticosteroid. Bone density declined significantly on the current daily dose of inhaled corticosteroid (p = .013 analysis of covariance). At doses ≤1.0 mg/d, bone density did not differ significantly from normal. SEM = standard error the mean.