Clinical outcomes and predictive factors in oral corticosteroid-refractory active ulcerative colitis

Table 4 Comparison of clinical factors in three month outcomes of the two groups of active ulcerative colitis patients receiving intravenous corticosteroids after oral corticosteroid therapy failure

	Good responders1(n = 37)	Poor responders2(n = 18)	P-value univariate
Gender (M/F)	21/16 (56.8/43.2)	10/8 (55.6/44.4)	0.933
Age (yr)	35 (13-78)	41 (20-62)	0.146
Disease duration (mo)
≤ 24	22 (59.5)	12 (66.7)	0.606
> 24	15 (40.5)	6 (33.3)
First attack of UC	15 (40.5)	10 (55.6)	0.294
Disease extent			0.317
Proctitis	3 (8.1)	1 (5.6)
Left-sided colitis	9 (24.3)	8 (44.4)
Extensive colitis	25 (67.6)	9 (50)
Disease activity
Full Mayo score (< 9/≥ 9)	20/14 (58.8/41.2)	7/9 (43.8/56.3)	0.318
Partial Mayo score (< 6/≥ 6)	11/26 (29.7/70.3)	3/15 (16.7/83.3)	0.297
Initial prednisolone dose (mg)			0.925
≥ 30 and < 40	19 (51.4)	9 (50)
≥ 40	18 (48.6)	9 (50)
Duration of oral corticosteroid use (d)			0.639
≤ 14	23 (62.2)	10 (55.6)
> 14	14 (37.8)	8 (44.4)
Concomitant medications			0.180
Salicylates	27 (73)	16 (88.9)
Azathioprine	10 (27)	2 (11.1)
CRP (mg/dL)
≤ 8	24 (64.9)	12 (66.7)	0.895
> 8	13 (35.1)	6 (33.3)
ESR (mm/h)	36.9 (3-120)	47.6 (6-120)	0.251
Hemoglobin (mg/dL)
≤ 11	14 (37.8)	4 (22.2)	0.247
> 11	23 (62.2)	14 (77.8)
Albumin (mg/dL)	3.73 (2.7-5.0)	3.44 (2.3-4.6)	0.082

¹Good responders included patients with prolonged response that maintained complete remission or partial remission after completion of corticosteroid therapy;

²Poor responders included patients with steroid dependence and non-response. M/F: Male/female; UC: Ulcerative colitis; CRP: C-reactive protein; ESR: Erythrocyte sedimentation rate.