Differences in characteristics of present status in patients classified by oral PSL dosing regimen
| High-dose group (n=237) | Intermediate-dose group (n=187) | Low-dose group (n=166) | P value | |
| Demographics | ||||
| Gender (% women) | 63.3 | 68.6 | 71.9 | 0.32 |
| Age (years), range | 57.1±15.4 (18–88) | 56.4±16.0 (16–90) | 59.6±16.7 (19–91) | 0.16 |
| Age of onset (years), range | 42.3±16.8 (0.9–76)* | 46.4±16.9 (1–77)* | 51.1±19.4 (0–89)* | <0.0001* |
| Disease duration (years), range | 15.0±10.0 (1–60)* | 10.1±8.9 (0.1–47.4) | 8.9±9.1 (0.3–55) | <0.0001* |
| Antibody status | ||||
| AChRAb-positive (%) | 88.7 | 86.2 | 76.0† | 0.002† |
| MuSKAb-positive (%) | 3.8 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 0.35 |
| Thymus status | ||||
| Thymectomy (%) | 83.1† | 65.8† | 36.1† | <0.0001† |
| Thymoma (%) | 29.1† | 38.5† | 22.9† | 0.006† |
| Postintervention status | ||||
| MM or better (%) | 52.9 | 50.3 | 56.7 | NS |
| I or worse (%) | 47.0 | 49.8 | 41.4 | NS |
| Current treatment | ||||
| Daily dose of PSL (mg), range | 4.5±5.1 (0–40) | 7.1±5.8 (0–30)* | 4.8±3.2 (0–15) | <0.0001* |
| Combination of CNIs (%) | 65.1 | 69.6 | 65.9 | 0.59 |
| Daily dose of tacrolimus (mg), range | 1.8±1.4 (0–5) | 2.1±1.2 (0–4) | 2.2±1.1 (0–3) | 0.09 |
| Daily dose of pyridostigmine (mg), range | 58.2±79.4 (0–360)* | 80.7±77.7 (0–240)* | 72.5±77.1 (0–240) | 0.003* |
*Significant difference detected by one-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey-Kramer test.
†Pearson’s Χ2 test.
AChRAb, acetylcholine receptor antibody; ANOVA, analysis of variance; CNIs, calcineurin inhibitors; I, improved; MM, minimal manifestations; MuSKAb, muscle-specific kinase antibody; NS, not significant; PSL, prednisolone.