Table 1.

Baseline Characteristics^* of Patients with SLE According to Stress Category^**

Characteristics	Overall (N=260)	High Stress (N=64)	Low/Moderate Stress (N=193)	P
Sociodemographic Factors:
Age, mean ± SD	45.6 ± 14.2	46.4 ± 13.1	45.4 ± 14.5	0.600
Female	91%	94%	90%	0.377
Race and ethnicity§				0.221
Asian	36%	25%	40%
White	30%	34%	28%
Hispanic	22%	25%	21%
African American	11%	15%	9%
Unspecified or other	2%	2%	2%
Below poverty	18%	29%	14%	0.008
Education: at least bachelor’s degree	47%	32%	52%	0.005
Marital Status				0.072
Never married	36%	38%	36%
Married or living w/ partner	53%	45%	56%
Divorced	10%	17%	7%
Widowed	1%	0%	2%
Lupus Specific Characteristics:
SLE disease duration, years, mean ± SD	16.6 ± 10.5	17.5 ± 10.7	16.3 ± 10.5	0.437
Disease damage by SDI, mean ± SD	1.8 ± 2.0	2.4 ± 2.2	1.7 ± 1.9	0.012
History of lupus nephritis (%)	44%	42%	45%	0.614
Systemic steroid use over prior year	59%	66%	56%	0.159
Current hydroxychloroquine use	69%	69%	69%	1.000
Comorbidites and Health Status:
Cardiovascular disease	13%	22%	10%	0.030
Diabetes mellitus	6%	8%	6%	0.556
History of malignancy	8%	12%	7%	0.205
Depression by PHQ-8 score ≥ 10	26%	62%	14%	<0.001
Obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2)	24%	28%	23%	0.401
BMI (kg/m2), mean ± SD	26.6 ± 6.4	28.0 ± 8.1	26.1 ± 5.7	0.038
Current nicotine use	4%	8%	3%	0.107

^*Values are percent unless otherwise indicated. P-values calculated using chi-squared tests for categorical measures and t-tests for continuous measures.

^**High stress defined by scores in the top quartile of the 4-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) (range 8–16); low/moderate stress defined by scores in the three lower quartiles of the PSS (range 0–7).

^§This is a combined race/ethnicity variable. White, African American, and Asian are non-Hispanic.

BMI: body mass index

SDI: Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics Damage Index

Cardiovascular Disease: history of stroke, coronary artery disease, and/or myocardial infarction

PHQ-8: 8-item Patient Health Questionnaire depression scale