Predictive factors of flares in systemic lupus erythematosus patients: data from a multiethnic Latin American cohort:

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine the factors predictive of flares in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients.MethodsA case-control study nested within the Grupo Latino Americano De Estudio de Lupus (GLADEL) cohort was conducted. Flare was defined as an increase ≥4 points in the SLEDAI. Cases were defined as patients with at least one flare. Controls were selected by matching cases by length of follow-up.Demographic and clinical manifestations were systematically recorded by a common protocol. Glucocorticoid use was recorded as average daily dose of prednisone and antimalarial use as percentage of time on antimalarial and categorized as never (0%), rarely (>0–25%), occasionally (>25%–50%), commonly (˃50%–75%) and frequently (˃75%). Immunosuppressive drugs were recorded as used or not used.The association between demographic, clinical manifestations, therapy and flares was examined using univariable and multivariable conditional logistic regression models.ResultsA total of 465 cases and ...