Baseline features of patients with SLE followed up compared with patients with SLE lost to follow-up (p>0.05 deemed non-significant (NS)) and characteristics at follow-up
| Cohort characteristics | At baseline | Patients with SLE followed up N=124 | ||
| Patients with SLE lost to follow-up N=76 | Patients with SLE followed up N=124 | P values | ||
| Age: median (IQR) years | 45 (37–54) | 49 (44–57) | NS | 55 (50–62) |
| Disease duration: median (IQR) years | 7 (4–15) | 11 (4–18) | NS | 17 (10–25) |
| Total cholesterol: mean (SD) mmol/L | 5.3 (1.4) | 5.1 (1.1) | NS | 4.49 (1.96) |
| HDL cholesterol: mean (SD) mmol/L | 1.68 (0.54) | 1.65 (0.47) | NS | 1.58 (1.43) |
| LDL cholesterol: mean (SD) mmol/L | 2.70 (1.21) | 2.76 (0.87) | NS | 3.12 (1.13) |
| Triglyceride levels: mean (SD) mmol/L | 1.37 (0.09) | 1.16 (0.57) | 0.01 | 1.18 (0.60) |
| Systolic blood pressure: mean (SD) mm Hg | 125 (19) | 132 (19) | 0.03 | 131 (20.1) |
| Hypertension (%) | 29 | 32 | NS | 41 |
| Metabolic syndrome (%) | 30.1 | 30.6 | NS | – |
| Fasting glucose: mean (SD) mmol/L | 4.7 (0.87) | 4.6 (0.77) | NS | 4.6 (0.85) |
| Smoking ever (%) | 54 | 45 | NS | 45 |
| Cardiovascular disease (%) | 14 | 9.7 | NS | 16 |
| Family history of CHD (%) | 28 | 26 | NS | 26 |
| Body Mass Index (kg/m2): mean (SD) | 27 (6) | 27 (6) | NS | 28 (5.8) |
| Renal disease (%) | 21.1 | 13 | NS | 18 |
| SDI: median (IQR) | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–1) | NS | 1 (0–2) |
| SLEDAI: median (IQR) | 0 (0–3) | 1 (0–4) | NS | 1 (0–4) |
| Anticardiolipin antibody positive (%) | 28 | 32 | NS | |
| Ro antibody positive (%) | 34.2 | 37.1 | NS | |
| La antibody positive (%) | 10.9 | 17.7 | NS | |
| DsDNA antibody positive (%) | 59. | 56 | NS | |
| Antimalarial therapy (%) | 77 | 86. | NS | |
| Cyclophosphamide therapy (%) | 18 | 10 | NS | |
CHD, coronary heart disease; SDI, Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics damage index; SLEDAI.