Demographics of the SLE population
| Parameter | Descriptive statistics* (n=146) |
| Demographics | |
| Age (years) | 49±15 |
| Sex | |
| Female | 120 (82) |
| Male | 26 (18) |
| Ethnicity | |
| Caucasian | 88 (60) |
| Asian | 56 (38) |
| Hispanic | 2 (1) |
| Conventional CVD risk factors | |
| Current smoker | 27 (18) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 5 (3) |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 148±16 |
| Hypertension † | 24 (16) |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 25.1±5.8 |
| Total cholesterol (mM) | 4.8±1.3 |
| Hypercholesterolaemia ‡ | 27 (18) |
| SLE disease parameters | |
| Number of ACR criteria met | 5±1.3 |
| Adjusted mean SLEDAI | 4.5±3.1 |
| Low C3 § | 54 (37) |
| Lupus anticoagulant positive | 9 (6) |
| On hydroxychloroquine | 136 (93) |
| On sDMARD ¶ | 62 (42) |
| On glucocorticoids | 79 (54) |
| Prednisolone dose (mg)** | 7.5 |
| Lupus nephritis (class I/II) | 1 (1) |
| Lupus nephritis (class III–V) | 3 (2) |
| Cardiovascular disease parameters | |
| CVD events | 25 (17) |
| On antihyerptensives | 45 (31) |
| On lipid-lowering medications | 14 (10) |
↵*Data as mean ± SD for continuous variables and number (%) for categorical variables.
↵†Blood pressure ≥140/90 mm Hg.
↵‡Total cholesterol >5.5 mM.
§Low C3 <0.8 mg/L.
¶sDMARD other than hydroxychloroquine.
**Median prednisolone dose for those on prednislone.
ACR, American College of Rheumatology; CVD, cardiovascular disease; sDMARD, synthetic disease modifying antirheumatic drug.