Pneumonia hospitalisation and all-cause mortality (separate endpoints)
| Time from exposure | Adjusted HR (95% CI) |
| Pneumonia hospitalisation | |
| 1 month | 1.4 (1.0 to 2.2) |
| 3 months | 1.2 (1.0 to 1.6) |
| 6 months | 1.2 (1.0 to 1.4) |
| 1 year | 1.2 (1.0 to 1.3) |
| All-cause mortality | |
| 1 month | 5.1 (1.7 to 15.6) |
| 3 months | 2.5 (1.5 to 4.3) |
| 6 months | 2.0 (1.5 to 2.6) |
| 1 year | 1.8 (1.5 to 2.2) |
Secondary endpoints: Adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) of pneumonia hospitalisation and all-cause mortality for outpatients with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who were treated with a long-course oral corticosteroid (OCS) treatment during the 1-year follow-up. The reference group was the short-course OCS treatment. All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, inhaled corticosteroids, smoking status, calendar year, FEV1% predicted, Medical Research Council Dyspnoea Scale, body mass index, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, myocardial infarction, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, peripheral vascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, renal failure and depression.