Lupus & antiphospholipid syndrome
Temporal trends in glucocorticoids and hydroxychloroquine for treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus in Sweden
Authors' conclusion
The modest reduction of GC exposure and substantial increase in HCQ coverage over time aligns with changes in recommendations for SLE management.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with newly diagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) between 2005 and 2021, Swedish population registers (83% females, mean age 48.8)
- Participants
- 3,891 patients
- Exposure
- Trends in glucocorticoids (GC) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) treatment by year of diagnosis
- Outcome
- Treatment patterns, including accumulated exposure to GC and HCQ and combinations of treatments, in relation to year of diagnosis and patient characteristics
- Follow-up
- First 5 years after diagnosis
Methodological detailsregister linkage, logistic regression, quantile regression
- Register linkage
- Logistic regression
- Quantile regression
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Proportion treated with GC during the first year after diagnosis, over the study period
68.3%
Proportion treated with GC in the fifth year, decrease over the study period
54.1% to 46.3%
Median decrease in 5-year cumulative GC dose attributable to calendar year
753 mg
90% CI 1560 mg decrease, 106 mg increase
Median increase in proportion of days covered with HCQ during 5 years
28.6%
90% CI 21.9%, 36.2%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
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