Characteristics of patients with SLE and controls
| Parameter | SLE cohort n=132 | Controls n=30 | No/limited fatigue* n=29 | Severe fatigue* n=100 | No/limited versus severe fatigue* P values |
| Age† | 48±15 (35–57) | 47±16 (34–57) | 43±14 (31–55) | 49±15 (36–58) | 0.04 |
| SLEDAI total‡ | 4 (2–8) | – | 2 (2–7) | 4 (2–8) | 0.76 |
| SLEDAI ≥6 | n=50 | – | n=9 | n=40 | |
| SLAM total‡ | 7 (5–11) | – | 5 (2–8) | 7 (6–12) | 0.001 |
| SLAM≥7 | n=78 | – | n=13 | n=63 | |
| FSS‡ | 5.3 (4.0–6.3) | 3.1 (2.0–4.3) | 2.6 (2.2–3.1) | 5.8 (5.0–6.6) | <0.0001 |
| HADS anxiety‡ | 6 (3–11) | 5 (3–10) | 4 (2–8) | 7 (4–11) | 0.04 |
| HADS depression‡ | 4 (2–8) | 2 (0–4) | 2 (0–5) | 5 (3–9) | <0.0001 |
| Serum creatinine† | 76±31 | 68±9 | 75±30 | 76±32 | 0.93 |
| Treatment, n (%) | |||||
| Prednisolone dose >0 mg | 80 (61) | 1 | 15 (52) | n=63 (63) | |
| Prednisolone dose >7.5 mg§ | 32 (24) Median=13.8 | 0 | 6 (21%) Median=10 | n=26 (26) Median=15 | |
| Hydroxychloroquine | 23 (17) | 0 | 4 (14) | 19 (19) | |
| No treatment¶ | 39 (30) | 29 (97) | 11 (38) | 28 (28) |
*No/limited fatigue: SLE patients with FSS <4; severe fatigue: SLE patients with FSS=4–7.
†Mean±SD (25% quantile–75% quantile).
‡Median (25% quantile–75% quantile).
§Low disease activity (LLDAS) dose of prednisolone set to >7.5 mg as suggested by Franklyn et al.48
¶No treatment implies that patients were not treated with immunosuppressants, hydroxychloroquine or corticosteroids.
FSS, Fatigue Severity Scale; HADS, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; LLDAS, lupus low disease activity state; SLEDAI, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index; SLAM, Systemic Lupus Activity Measures.