Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of study population
| Variables | SLE patients (n=17,854) |
General population (n=649,010) |
|---|---|---|
| Age, years | 42.3 ± 13.2 | 44.2 ± 16.1 |
| Sex, female | 16,143 (90.4) | 306,649 (47.2) |
| Duration of observation, years | 3.4 ± 0.9 | 3.7 ± 0.6 |
| Payer type | ||
| National health insurance | 16,752 (93.8) | 630,446 (71.1) |
| Medical aid | 1102 (6.2) | 18,564 (2.9) |
| Type of institution | ||
| Tertiary hospital | 12,362 (69.2) | 15,059 (2.3) |
| General hospital | 3837 (21.5) | 30,927 (4.8) |
| Community hospital | 146 (0.8) | 36,687 (5.6) |
| Clinic | 1377 (7.7) | 239,369 (36.9) |
| Other | 132 (0.7) | 326,968 (50.4) |
| Number of comorbidities | 1.2 ± 0.6 | 0.1 ± 0.3 |
| Comorbidity | ||
| Myocardial infarction | 21 (0.1) | 468 (0.07) |
| Congestive heart failure | 162 (0.9) | 1437 (0.2) |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 512 (2.9) | 4280 (0.7) |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 253 (1.4) | 3733 (0.6) |
| Dementia | 38 (0.2) | 132 (0.02) |
| Chronic pulmonary disease | 492 (2.8) | 12,724 (2.0) |
| Peptic ulcer disease | 1084 (6.1) | 10,119 (1.6) |
| Mild liver disease | 920 (5.2) | 7558 (1.2) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 601 (3.4) | 13,323 (2.1) |
| Hemiplegia or paraplegia | 51 (0.3) | 685 (0.1) |
| Renal disease | 474 (2.7) | 1,180 (0.2) |
| Moderate or severe liver disease | 11 (0.1) | 157 (0.02) |
| Charlson Comorbidity Index score | 0.30 ± 0.69 | 0.10 ± 0.40 |
Numerical quantitative data were presented by “mean ± SD” and categorical data were presented by “frequency (%)”