Disease features at diagnosis and changes in disease course severity among commercially insured patients with childhood-onset compared with adult-onset systemic lupus erythematosus
Authors' conclusion
Children with SLE present with greater symptom severity compared with adults. Although children were more likely to experience improvements following treatment, they had more active disease over time than aSLE patients. Disease severity remained stable for aSLE patients until the second year of follow-up, when more patients experienced a deterioration rather than improvement in symptoms.
Study context
- Population
- Commercially insured patients 0–64 years old newly diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) during 2014–2020 (MarketScan® database)89.9% female
- Participants
- 10,912 participants
- Exposure
- Childhood-onset SLE vs adult-onset SLE
- Outcome
- Disease features at diagnosis and changes in disease severity over time (improvement = transition from severe to mild/moderate)
Methodological detailsclaims database (MarketScan®), validated severity algorithm
- Claims database (MarketScan®)
- Validated severity algorithm
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
P < 0.0001
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Improvement in severity · 6 to <12 months post-index
P < 0.0001
Severe disease · 0 to <6 months post-index
P < 0.01, all
Severe disease · 6 to <12 months post-index
P < 0.01, all
aSLE: deterioration vs improvement in symptoms · 12 to <24 months
- Deterioration
- 30.1%
- Improvement
- 15.6%
- Improvement and deterioration similar at 0 to <6 and 6 to <12 months
Original publication
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