Table 1

Baseline clinical characteristics of the recruited patients

	Mean (SD)/number (%)
	Raloxifene (N=57)	Placebo (N=57)	p Value
Age, years	55.4 (7.8)	55.2 (7.6)	0.93
Duration of menopause, years	8.6 (8.3)	8.3 (7.2)	0.81
Parity	2.1 (1.2)	2.2 (1.4)	0.60
Duration of GC treatment, months	58.1 (63.5)	67.8 (58.7)	0.40
Daily dose of prednisolone, mg	7.2 (6.2)	6.5 (5.5)	0.52
Daily prednisolone dose ≥7.5 mg	21 (37)	16 (28)	0.32
Body mass index, kg/m²	23.2 (3.5)	24.1 (3.6)	0.18
Ever smoking	2 (4)	5 (9)	0.44
Underlying diseases
SLE	30 (53)	32 (56)	0.71
RA	16 (28)	15 (26)	0.83
Inflammatory myopathy	4 (7)	1 (2)	0.36
Others	7 (12)	9 (16)	0.59
Cumulative prednisolone dose in the 12-month study period, g	2.17 (1.20)	1.97 (0.76)	0.28
Bone mineral density, g/cm²
Lumbar spine	0.864 (0.136)	0.848 (0.147)	0.55
Total hip	0.741 (0.136)	0.780 (0.146)	0.16
Femoral neck	0.647 (0.117)	0.683 (0.126)	0.13
Whole body	1.013 (0.123)	0.993 (0.113)	0.37
Naive to calcium	18 (32)	15 (26)	0.54
Naive to calcitriol	43 (75)	42 (74)	0.83
Naive to antiosteoporotic medications	51 (89)	54 (95)	0.30
Vertebral fracture	4 (7)	2 (4)	0.68
Total cholesterol, mmol/litre	5.28 (1.08)	5.36 (1.18)	0.73
LDL cholesterol, mmol/litre	2.84 (0.92)	2.91 (1.08)	0.70
HDL cholesterol, mmol/litre	1.77 (0.61)	1.79 (0.53)	0.85
Triglyceride, mmol/litre	1.45 (0.67)	1.43 (0.71)	0.88

GC, glucocorticoid; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus.