Risk of Arrhythmia Among New Users of Hydroxychloroquine in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Population‐Based Study
Authors' conclusion
Risk of any type of arrhythmia was not increased among new users of HCQ.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with incident rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), no arrhythmic events, not receiving antiarrhythmic medications or hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) before the index date, British Columbia, Canada, January 1996–December 2014mean follow-up 8 years
- Participants
- 11,518 vs 11,518
- Exposure
- HCQ initiators vs HCQ noninitiators
- HCQ initiatorsn = 11,518
- HCQ noninitiatorsn = 11,518reference
- Outcome
- Any new arrhythmia
Methodological detailspropensity-score matched 1:1, cause-specific Cox proportional hazards models with death as a competing event, administrative databases
- Propensity-score matched 1:1
- Cause-specific Cox proportional hazards models with death as a competing event
- Administrative databases
Main finding
Any incident arrhythmia · mean follow-up of 8 years
Adjusted cHR
0.96
95% CI 0.89–1.03
Events by group
As reported in the abstract
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | cHR (95% CI) |
|---|---|
| AF | 0.93 (0.83–1.04) |
| Abnormal ECGs, incl. long QT syndrome and conduction disorder | 0.98 (0.87–1.11) |
| Other unspecified arrhythmias | 0.95 (0.84–1.07) |
Original publication
Risk of Arrhythmia Among New Users of Hydroxychloroquine in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Population‐Based Study. Arthritis Rheumatol. Published 11 January 2023. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →