Age at diagnosis and health-related quality of life are associated with fatigue in systemic lupus erythematosus patients: Data from the Almenara Lupus Cohort.

OBJECTIVE: To define the factors associated with fatigue in Mestizo patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study of SLE patients from a single center cohort. Visits were performed every six months. For these analyses, the first visit between October 2017 and December 2018 was included. Demographic and clinical characteristics as well as treatment were recorded at every visit. Fatigue was ascertained with the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-FT), Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) with the LupusQoL, disease activity with the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index -2 K (SLEDAI-2K), and damage with the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC)/American College of Rheumatology damage index (SDI). Prednisone use was recorded as current daily dose. Immunosuppressive drugs and antimalarial use were recorded as current, past or never. Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed using linear regression models. For the multivariable analyses, model selection followed a backward elimination procedure. RESULTS: Two hundred and twenty-six patients were evaluated. The mean (SD) age at diagnosis was 35.6 (13.1) years, 211 (93.4%) were female; and disease duration was 11.0 (7.3) years. The mean SLEDAI and SDI were 2.4 (3.5) and 1.3 (1.5), respectively. The mean FACIT-FT was 33.1 (10.8). On the multivariable analysis, age at diagnosis and some domains of HRQoL (physical health, emotional health and fatigue) remained associated. CONCLUSIONS: Age at diagnosis is negatively associated with fatigue whereas HRQoL domains like physical health, emotional health and fatigue are positively associated with fatigue.

Correction to: Homocysteine levels are independently associated with damage accrual in systemic lupus erythematosus patients from a Latin-American cohort.

The affiliations of Manuel F. Ugarte-Gil, one of the author of the above article has a discrepancy between the online version of the publisher's internet portal ( Springerlink.com ) and the online pdf version.

Homocysteine levels are independently associated with damage accrual in systemic lupus erythematosus patients from a Latin-American cohort.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of homocysteine levels on damage accrual in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. METHODS: This longitudinal study was conducted in consecutive patients seen every 6 months at our Rheumatology Department since 2012. Patients with available homocysteine levels and who had at least one subsequent visit were included. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression models were done to determine if homocysteine levels were predictive of damage accrual as per the SLICC Damage Index (SDI). The multivariable model was adjusted for pertinent variables (age at diagnosis, gender, socioeconomic status, disease duration, disease activity (SLEDAI), Framingham score, antimalarial and immunosuppressive drug use, average daily dose, and exposure time to prednisone (PDN)). RESULTS: One hundred forty-five patients were included; their mean (SD) age at diagnosis was 43.70 (12.09) years, 136 (93.8%) were female, and nearly all were Mestizo. At baseline, disease duration was 7.55 (6.73) years; patients were followed for 3.54 (1.27) years. The SLEDAI was 5.60 (4.34), and the SDI 0.97 (1.35). The average daily PDN dose was 7.30 (5.78) mg/day and the time of PDN exposure was 7.36 (6.73) years. Mean homocysteine levels were 10.07 (3.71) µmol/L. The highest tertile of homocysteine levels predicted new damage accrual in the univariable and multivariable models [HR 1.78 (95% CI, 1.042-3.039); p = 0.035 and HR 2.045 (95% CI, 1.077-3.883); p = 0.029, respectively]. Increased levels (> 15 µmol/L) were found in 12 (8.3%) patients; 75 (51.7%) patients increased ≥ 1 SDI point. CONCLUSION: In SLE patients, homocysteine levels predicted damage accrual independently of other well-known risk factors for such occurrence.