 Another compelling finding in pre-planned subgroup analysis of patient age groups is that when limiting analysis to those aged less than 75 years in the DECS trial, dexamethasone reduced the risk of the primary composite endpoint, RR 0.74 95 CI: 0.58-0.95, P0.017; as well as respiratory failure RR 0.62 95 CI: 0.42-0.91, P0.014; and possibly mortality RR 0.53 95 CI: 0.26-1.10, P0.08.6 This age-interaction effect is supported by the demonstration of increased C-reactive protein concentrations in younger patients enrolled in the DECS trial. 