Table 1.
Demographic characteristics of the study participants*
| Controls (n = 19) | All patients with childhood-onset SLE (n = 22) | Patients with childhood-onset SLE with normal cognition (n= 14) | Patients with childhood-onset SLE with neurocognitive deficit (n=8) | P† | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years | 14.3 ± 2.20 | 14.9 ± 2.01 | 14.7 ± 2.14 | 15.2 ± 1.82 | NS |
| No. (%) female | 15 (79) | 18 (82) | 11 (79) | 7 (88) | NS |
| School grade | 8.5 ± 2.37 | 8.8 ± 2.11 | 8.9 ± 2.35 | 8.6 ± 1.77 | NS |
| Children#x0027;s Depression Inventory, T score‡ | 43.7 ± 5.9 | 43.9 ± 7.1 | 41.3 ± 3.8 | 48.4 ± 9.3 | 0.013 |
| Estimated annual household income, US dollars | 59,711 ± 45,423 | 66,409 ± 46,480 | 84,429 ± 48,889 | 34,875 ± 16,022 | 0.0028 |
| Highest maternal education level, no.§ | NS | ||||
| High school | 7 | 8 | 4 | 4 | |
| Some college | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | |
| Bachelor#x0027;s degree | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | |
| Postgraduate education | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Race, no. (%) | 0.028 | ||||
| White | 9 (47) | 9 (41) | 8 (57) | 1 (13) | |
| African American | 9 (47) | 11 (50) | 4 (29) | 7 (87) | |
| Biracial | 1 (6) | 2 (9) | 2 (14) | 0 (0) | |
| Ethnicity, no. (%) non-Hispanic | 2 (11) | 20 (91) | 12 (86) | 8 (100) | NS |
| Disease duration, months | NA | 27.2 ± 24.0 | 29.5 ± 26.0 | 23.4 ± 21.1 | NS |
| Medication | |||||
| Current daily dose of prednisone, mg/day | NA | 16.84 ± 19.62 | 9.8 ± 8.75 | 29.1 ± 27.24 | NS |
| Cumulative dose of oral corticosteroids, gm prednisone equivalent¶ | NA | 6.09 ± 5.75 | 5.23 ± 5.11 | 7.60 ± 2.41 | NS |
| Cumulative dose of IV methylprednisolone, gm prednisone equivalent¶ | NA | 16.03 ± 41.87 | 19.13 ± 50.63 | 10.62 ± 21.13 | NS |
| No. (%) treated with immunosuppressants | NA | 10 (45) | 5 (36) | 5 (62.5) | NS |
| No. (%) treated with antihypertensive agents | NA | 7 (32) | 4 (29) | 3 (37.5) | NS |
| Disease activity and damage | |||||
| SLEDAI-2K# | NA | 5.82 ± 5.34 | 4.14 ± 2.98 | 8.75 ± 7.32 | 0.05 |
| Physician assessment of disease activity** | NA | 2.45 ± 2.09 | 2.35 ± 2.23 | 2.62 ± 1.92 | NS |
| SDI score†† | NA | 0.45 ± 0.86 | 0.36 ± 0.74 | 0.63 ± 1.06 | NS |
| Patient assessment of overall well-being | NA | 7.86 ± 1.55 | 8.71 ± 1.07 | 6.38 ± 1.06 | <0.0001 |
Except where indicated otherwise, values are mean ± SD. There were no significant differences between controls and all patients with childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). NS = not significant; NA = not applicable; IV = intravenous; SLEDAI-2K = SLE Disease Activity Index 2000; SDI = Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index.
Patients with normal cognition versus patients with neurocognitive deficit, by t-test and chi-square or Fisher#x0027;s exact test, when appropriate.
Range 34–100, where 34 indicates no depression.
Data on maternal education were missing for 1 patient with childhood-onset SLE with neurocognitive deficit.
Cumulative steroid doses since diagnosis.
Range 0–105, where 0 indicates inactive disease.
Measured on a 0–10-cm visual analog scale, where 0 indicates inactive disease and 10 indicates very active disease.
Range 0–46, where 0 indicates no damage.