Systemic corticosteroid use in UK Uveitis practice: results from the ocular inflammation steroid toxicity risk (OSTRICH) study

Objectives To ascertain adherence to an international consensus target of <= 7.5 mg/day of prednisolone for maintenance systemic corticosteroid (CS) prescribing in uveitis and report the frequency of courses of high-dose systemic CS in the UK. Methods We conducted a national, multicentre audit of systemic CS prescribing for uveitis at 11 UK sites between November 2018 and March 2019. High-dose CS was defined as (1) maintenance >7.5 mg prednisolone for >3 consecutive months, or (2) >1 course >= 40 mg oral CS or >= 500 mg intravenous (IV) methylprednisolone in the past 12 months. Case notes of patients exceeding threshold CS doses were reviewed by an independent uveitis specialist and judged as avoidable or not, based upon a scoring matrix. Results Of 667 eligible patients, 285 (42.7%) were treated with oral or IV CS over the preceding 12 months; 96 (33.7%) of these exceeded the threshold for high-dose CS. Twenty-five percent of prescribing in patients on excess CS was judged avoidable; attributed to either prescribing long-term CS without evidence of consideration of alternative strategies, prescribing error or miscommunication. More patients received immunomodulatory therapy (IMT) in the group treated with CS above threshold than below threshold (p < 0.001) but there was no significant difference in doses of IMT. Conclusion 33% of patients had been prescribed excessive corticosteroid when compared to the reference standard. An analysis of decision-making suggests there may be opportunity to reduce excess CS prescribing in 25% of these patients.

Automated summary

The study found that 33.7% of uveitis patients in the UK were prescribed high-dose systemic corticosteroids over the past 12 months. 25% of these excessive prescriptions were deemed avoidable, with reasons such as long-term corticosteroid use without consideration of alternatives, prescribing errors, or miscommunication.