What do systematic reviews say?

Systemic corticosteroids vs placebo

Systemic corticosteroid leads to lower treatment failure Need to intensify therapy/ED or hospital admission compared with placebo (high certainty).

• Systemic corticosteroids for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 2014 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  OR 0.48 [0.35, 0.67]
  9 studies · 917 participants
  High

Systemic corticosteroids vs placebo

Systemic corticosteroid showed no clear difference in relapse Treatment for AE of COPD or hospital re‐admission compared with placebo (moderate certainty).

• Systemic corticosteroids for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 2014 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  OR 0.77 [0.51, 1.17]
  5 studies · 596 participants
  Moderate

Systemic corticosteroids vs placebo

• Systemic corticosteroids for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 2014 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  7 studies · 649 participants
  High

Systemic corticosteroids vs placebo

• Systemic corticosteroids for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 2014 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  3 studies · 178 participants
  Moderate

Systemic corticosteroids vs placebo

Systemic corticosteroid leads to higher adverse drug effect compared with placebo (high certainty).

• Systemic corticosteroids for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 2014 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  OR 2.33 [1.59, 3.43]
  8 studies · 736 participants
  High

Systemic corticosteroids vs placebo

Systemic corticosteroid leads to higher hyperglycaemia compared with placebo (high certainty).

• Systemic corticosteroids for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 2014 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  OR 2.79 [1.86, 4.19]
  6 studies · 804 participants
  High