Table 1.
Characteristics of the included cohort studies
| Study, year, country | Mean age (years) | No of participants | Male gender, no (%) | Study population | Participants with CVD, excluded or not, at enrollment | Drug type | Follow-up time (years) | Study quality score (NOS) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| van Halm et al,25 2006, the Netherlands | 62 (RA without CVD); 67 (RA with CVD) | 613 | 182 (29.7) | RA | No | HCQ | NA | 7 |
| Mok et al,20 2007, China | 28.8 (LN); 42.7 (PGN) | 343 | 111 (32.4) | LN/PGN | Yes | HCQ | 8.1 (mean) | 9 |
| Sisó et al,27 2008, Spain | 31.3 | 206 | 21 (10.2) | LN | Yes | HCQ or CQ | 12.3 (mean) | 8 |
| Becker-Merok et al,15 2009, Norway | ≥16 | 158 | 24 (15.2) | SLE | Yes | HCQ | 11.9 (mean) | 8 |
| Gustafsson et al,18 2009, Sweden | 45 | 182 | 18 (10) | SLE | Yes | HCQ or CQ | 8.3 (mean) | 6 |
| Nikpour et al,21 2011, Canada | 37.1 | 956 | 107 (11.2) | SLE | Yes | HCQ or CQ | 6.7 (mean) | 8 |
| Magder and Petri,19 2012, USA | 37 | 1,874 | 136 (7.3) | SLE | Yes | HCQ | NA | 6 |
| Arnaud et al,14 2015 Argentina, France, | NA | 191 | NA | SLE | Yes | HCQ | NA | 5 |
| Greece, Italy and Spain | ||||||||
| Sharma et al,24 2016, USA | 56.3 | 1,266 | 313 (24.7) | Incident RA | Yes | HCQ | 6.0 (median) | 8 |
| Hsu et al,28 2017, China | 35.3 | 3,892 | 3,404 (87.5) | New-onset SLE | Yes | HCQ | 7.4 (mean) | 9 |
| Fasano et al,29 2017, Italy | 33 | 291 | 20 (6.9) | SLE | Yes | HCQ | 8 (median) | 9 |
| Hung et al,32 2017, China | 53.8 | 6,260 | 1,866 (29.8) | RA | Yes | HCQ | 5.39 (median) | 9 |
Abbreviations: CQ, chloroquine; CVD, cardiovascular disease; HCQ, hydroxychloroquine; LN, lupus nephritis; NA, not available; NOS, the Newcastle–Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale; PGN, primary glomerulonephritis; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus.