Disparities Examined Among Patients With SLE and COVID-19 Outcomes

Black and Hispanic patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in the US who contracted COVID-19 experienced more severe outcomes than patients of other races and ethnicities, according to the results of a study published in Arthritis Care & Research.

The investigators analyzed data entered into the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance registry between March 24, 2020, and August 27, 2021. The variables they examined included age, sex, race, and ethnicity (White, Black, Hispanic, other), along with comorbidities, disease activity, pandemic time period, glucocorticoid dose, use of antimalarials, and immunosuppressive drug use. Outcomes were not hospitalized, hospitalized with no oxygenation, hospitalized with any ventilation or oxygenation, and death.

“We included 523 patients; 473 (90.4%) were female and the mean ± SD age was 46.6 ± 14.0 years,” the authors wrote. “A total of 358 patients (74.6%) were not hospitalized; 40 patients (8.3%) were hospitalized without oxygen, 64 patients (13.3%) were hospitalized with any oxygenation, and 18 (3.8%) died.”

The authors explained that according to their multivariable model, Black patients (odds ratio [OR] 2.73 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.36–5.53]) and Hispanic patients (OR 2.76 [95% CI 1.34–5.69]) had higher odds of more severe outcomes than White patients.

These findings were consistent with those from the general US population, the investigators noted. “These results likely reflect socioeconomic and health disparities and suggest that more aggressive efforts are needed to prevent and treat infection in this population.”

—Priyam Vora

Reference:
Ugarte-Gil MF, Alarcón GS, Seet AM, et al. Association between race/ethnicity and COVID-19 outcomes in systemic lupus erythematosus patients from the United States: data from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance. Arthritis Care Res. 2023;75(1):53-60. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.25039