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Objective. To assess trends in long-term (i.e. ≥3 months) oral glucocorticoid (GC) prescriptions over the past 20 years.

Methods. Data of UK adult patients registered between January 1989 and December 2008 with general practices contributing to The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database were obtained. The annual prevalence of long-term oral GC prescriptions was assessed in the whole population and specifically in people with RA, PMR/GCA, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (UC). Trends over the 20-year period were estimated using sex- and age-adjusted Poisson regression models.

Results. During the 26 035 154 person-years of follow-up, an average of 0.75% (95% CI 0.74, 0.75) of the study population was prescribed long-term oral GC therapy at any time point. This rose from 0.59% (0.52, 0.67) in …