Analysis of disease activity and response to treatment in a large Spanish cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

ObjectivesThe objectives of this paper are to study the impact of disease activity in a large cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and estimate the rate of response to therapies.MethodsWe conducted a nationwide, retrospective, multicenter, cross-sectional cohort study of 3658 SLE patients. Data on demographics, disease characteristics: activity (SELENA-SLEDAI), damage, severity, hospitalizations and therapies were collected. Factors associated with refractory disease were identified by logistic regression.ResultsA total of 3658 patients (90% female; median SLE duration (interquartile range): 10.4 years (5.3–17.1)) were included. At the time of their last evaluation, 14.7% of the patients had moderate-severe SLE (SELENA-SLEDAI score ≥6). There were 1954 (53.4%) patients who were hospitalized for activity at least once over the course of the disease. At some stage, 84.6% and 78.8% of the patients received glucocorticoids and antimalarials, respectively, and 51.3% of the patients receiv...