The safety of glucocorticoids in patients with inflammatory musculoskeletal conditions

糖皮质激素，也称为类固醇，是常用于治疗类风湿性关节炎和其他炎性病症的药物。类固醇是一种很好的治疗方法，因为它们可以快速缓解关节疼痛，肿胀和僵硬，从而改善残疾。然而，与大多数药物一样，有潜在的副作用。在开始用药时，大多数患者都想知道他们发生副作用的可能性。然而，我们不知道如何常见的副作用发生，什么剂量的类固醇导致副作用，或者什么样的人是特别危险.副作用的可能性可能因许多因素而异，包括患者的年龄，性别，是否患有其他疾病或正在服用其他药物。这项研究旨在回答这些问题，并提供针对个人的副作用的可能性。只有患者自己知道他们是否服用药物，剂量是多少，或者是否会产生副作用。为了改善风险测量，我们需要直接从患者那里收集这些信息。然后，在衡量了风险之后，我们需要改进与患者沟通这些信息的方式。该项目旨在开发电子系统，以促进这种双向通信。

Glucocorticoids, also known as steroids, are drugs commonly used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory conditions. Steroids are a good treatment because they quickly ease joint pain, swelling and stiffness, thus improving disability. However, as with most medication, there are potential side effects. When starting medication, most patients want to know their chance of developing side effects. However, we don‘t know accurately how commonly side effects occur, what dose of steroid leads to side effects, or what sort of person is particularly at risk. The chance of side effects probably varies according to many factors, including how old a patient is, their gender, whether they have other diseases, or are taking other medication. This research aims to answer these questions, and to provide a likelihood of side effects tailored to the individual.Only patients themselves know whether they take their medicines, at what dose, or whether they develop side effects. In order to improve risk measurement, we need to collect such information directly from patients. Then, having measured risk, we need to improve the way we communicate this information to patients. This project aims to develop electronic systems to advance this two-way communication.