thank you

Yes, an NLR of 8.96 in steroid-naïve PMR strongly predicts a difficult taper and high relapse risk.

The 2020 prospective study of 32 newly diagnosed, steroid-naïve PMR patients directly answers your question [1]. Baseline NLR independently predicted glucocorticoid resistance, defined as non-response to 15 mg/day prednisolone or relapse upon weaning to 5 mg/day [1]. The resistant group had a log-NLR mean of 1.20 (raw ~3.3) versus 0.87 (~2.4) in the responsive group, and the odds ratio for resistance per unit increase in log-NLR was 14.01 (95% CI 1.49–278.06) [1]. Your raw NLR of 8.96 is far above even the resistant group's mean, placing you in a much higher inflammatory state at diagnosis.

The same study found that 78% of all participants relapsed by week 24, at a median prednisone dose of 7 mg/day [1]. That means most PMR patients struggle during tapering, and a high NLR marks you as more likely to be among them. No retrieved study tested a specific cutoff for tapering speed or success in a dose-response way, so the evidence tells you the direction and the risk category, but not the exact number of extra weeks you should expect.

My call: your 8.96 NLR at diagnosis is a meaningful signal of elevated risk for a difficult taper and for relapse as you lower the dose. Confidence: moderate — the 2020 study directly supports the link, but the sample is small (32 patients) and the confidence interval around the odds ratio is very wide.