Table 2.
Descriptive data: patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with infection versus without infection
| Study (infection) group (n=98) | Control (non-infection) group (n=111) | P values | |
| Gender, n (%) | 90 (92) | 103 (93) | |
| Female (male) | 8 (8) | 8 (7) | ns |
| Median age at diagnosis of SLE (IQR), years | 30.5 (27) | 31 (18) | ns |
| Median age at time of infection (IQR), years | 43 (25) | Not applicable | |
| Ethnicity, n (%) | |||
| Caucasian | 48 (49) | 72 (65) | ns |
| Hispanics | 3 (3) | 2 (2) | |
| Afro-Caribbean | 28 (29) | 20 (18) | |
| Asian | 7 (7) | 6 (5) | |
| Other | 12 (12) | 12 (11) | |
| Median length of follow-up (IQR), years | 9.5 (14) | 14 (9) | ns |
| Previous infection before SLE diagnosis,n (%) | 16 (16) | 3 (2) | 0.001 |
| Previous hospitalisations due to SLE n (%) | 55 (56) | 36 (32) | 0.001 |
| SLE main features (cumulative) n, (%) | |||
| Skin disease | 76 (78) | 67 (60) | 0.012 |
| Joint disease | 72 (74) | 101 (91) | 0.001 |
| Renal disease | 42 (43) | 24 (22) | 0.004 |
| Neuropsychiatric disease | 13 (13) | 12 (11) | ns |
| Serositis | 19 (19) | 33 (30) | ns |
| Previous drug treatment n (%) | |||
| Corticosteroids | 89 (91) | 43 (39) | <0.001 |
| Corticosteroids (≥10 mg per day at any time) | 54 (55) | 25 (23) | 0.009 |
| No hydroxychloroquine | 32 (33) | 25 (23) | ns |
| Azathioprine | 47 (48) | 35 (32) | 0.015 |
| Mycophenolate | 36 (35) | 28 (25) | ns |
| Cyclophosphamide | 28 (29) | 13 (13) | 0.004 |
| Rituximab | 26 (27) | 25 (23) | ns |
| Laboratory data, n(%) at any time | |||
| Neutropenia | 33 (34) | 19 (17) | 0.006 |
| Lymphopenia | 76 (78) | 73(66) | ns |
| Anti-dsDNA + | 67 (68) | 66 (60) | ns |
| Low C3 | 57 (58) | 50 (45) | ns |
| Outcomes | |||
| Deaths | 26 (27) | 2 (2) | |
| Patients with >1 infection | 18 (18) | 0 | 0.03 |