Lupus & antiphospholipid syndrome
Diagnosis to dialogue: Reproductive health conversations and guideline adherence in women with lupus
Authors' conclusion
Our findings highlight specific gaps in reproductive healthcare among females with SLE, alongside areas of high adherence with guidelines.
Study context
- Population
- Females with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) aged 18–50 years evaluated by a rheumatologist at a tertiary care center, January 2022 to March 2024mean age 35 years
- Participants
- 102 females
- Outcome
- Patient-reported adherence to American College of Rheumatology (ACR) reproductive health guidelines (discussion of contraception, pregnancy planning and HCQ use during preconception and pregnancy)
Methodological detailsonline survey, single tertiary care centre
- Online survey
- Single tertiary care centre
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Reproductive health discussions with rheumatologist
- Among participants with pregnancy after SLE diagnosis (n = 34), most reported pregnancy planning discussions, including hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) use
- Fewer than one-third of all participants reported contraceptive counseling by their rheumatologist in the past year
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Contraceptive counseling (exploratory analyses)
- Varied significantly by race, employment status, disease duration, and who was most likely to initiate reproductive health conversations
- Exploratory bivariate analyses
EHEC use (exploratory analyses)
- Varied significantly by race; numerically higher use among White participants
- 59.4%
- Exploratory bivariate analyses
Original publication
Diagnosis to dialogue: Reproductive health conversations and guideline adherence in women with lupus. Lupus. Published 8 July 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →