People with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have a threefold greater likelihood of having up to five or more comorbidities in comparison with people in the general population, according to the results of two separate US population-based studies.
The higher rate of comorbidities seen included many of those commonly reported before, such as cardiovascular and renal disease, but also some that may be less frequently associated with SLE, notably chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cardiac arrhythmias.
"In the past, the characterization of SLE comorbidities has relied on individual comorbidity assessment," Alí Duarte García, MD, said at the 14th International Congress on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (LUPUS 2021), held together will the 6th International Congress on Controversies in Rheumatology and Autoimmunity (CORA).
"However, a patient-centric approach where a patient as a whole is seen and how many comorbidities they accrue has not been performed." added Duarte García, who is a rheumatologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Multiple Conditions "Overrepresented" in SLE patients
Duarte García reported the findings of one of the studies, both of which used data from the Rochester Epidemiology Projecta record-linkage system that collates clinical and hospital data from individuals who live in 19 counties in southeast Minnesota and eight counties in western Wisconsin; these patients have agreed to share their medical records for research.
