Table 2.
Details of rheumatic disease diagnosis and management at the time of COVID-19 diagnosis (N=143)
| Characteristic | n (%) |
| Rheumatic disease diagnosis | |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 44 (31) |
| Systemic lupus erythematosus | 27 (19) |
| Psoriatic arthritis | 10 (7) |
| Other inflammatory arthritis | 10 (7) |
| Polymyalgia rheumatica | 8 (6) |
| ANCA-associated vasculitis | 6 (4) |
| Other vasculitis | 6 (4) |
| Axial spondyloarthritis | 5 (4) |
| Inflammatory myositis | 4 (3) |
| Systemic sclerosis | 3 (2) |
| Undifferentiated connective tissue disease | 3 (2) |
| Sarcoidosis | 2 (1) |
| Mixed connective tissue disease | 2 (1) |
| Juvenile idiopathic arthritis | 2 (1) |
| Kikuchi disease | 2 (1) |
| Giant cell arteritis | 2 (1) |
| Antiphospholipid syndrome | 1 (1) |
| Sjögren’s syndrome | 1 (1) |
| Multiple diagnoses* | 5 (4) |
| Rheumatic disease duration (years) | |
| <1 | 1 (1) |
| 1–4 | 27 (19) |
| 5–10 | 27 (19) |
| >10 | 87 (61) |
| Unknown | 1 (1) |
| Disease activity | |
| Active | 90 (63) |
| Remission | 53 (37) |
| Baseline rheumatic disease medications | |
| Biologic DMARDs† | 41 (29) |
| TNF inhibitor | 17 (12) |
| IL-6 receptor inhibitor | 3 (2) |
| B-cell activating factor inhibitor | 2 (1) |
| CD20 inhibitor | 11 (8) |
| IL-17 inhibitor | 3 (2) |
| IL-12/IL-23 inhibitor | 1 (1) |
| CTLA-4 immunoglobulin | 4 (3) |
| C5 inhibitor | 1 (1) |
| Targeted synthetic DMARDs (JAK inhibitors) | 4 (3) |
| Conventional synthetic DMARDs‡ | 44 (31) |
| Leflunomide | 9 (7) |
| Azathioprine | 6 (4) |
| Methotrexate | 18 (13) |
| Mycophenolate | 10 (7) |
| Tacrolimus | 2 (1) |
| Sulfasalazine | 1 (1) |
| Cyclophosphamide | 1 (1) |
| Hydroxychloroquine | 30 (21) |
| Oral glucocorticoid | 51 (36) |
| Prednisone-equivalent daily dose (median, IQR, mg) | 5 (5 to 10) |
*‘Multiple diagnoses’ category includes patients with overlap features of multiple primary rheumatic diseases.
†One patient was on two biologic DMARDs (rituximab and eculizumab).
‡Three patients were on multiple conventional synthetic DMARDs.
ANCA, antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody; C5, complement component 5; CTLA-4, cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4; DMARD, disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; IL, interleukin; JAK, Janus kinase; TNF, tumour necrosis factor.