Characteristics of three groups: clinical parameters of patients with VZV/UTI and matched background controls at the time of infections or visits
| VZV (n=47) | Background (n=141) | P value (vs VZV) | UTI (n=28) | P value (vs VZV) | |
| Age | 40.89±13.79 | 35.42±13.51 | 0.018 | 47.71±14.57 | 0.046 |
| Gender (female, %) | 97.9 | 90.9 | 0.14 | 100 | 0.44 |
| Disease duration (years) | 5.26±4.79 | 4.99±5.11 | 0.75 | 7.56±7.06 | 0.10 |
| Organ involvement | 2.36±0.85 | 2.28±0.86 | 0.56 | 2.46±0.74 | 0.60 |
| SLEDAI | 4.15±1.35 | 3.69±2.33 | 0.20 | 4.03±1.5 | 0.41 |
| HCQ exposure (%) | 89.4 | 91.5 | 0.78 | 92.9 | 0.71 |
| Prior daily prednisone* | 16.45±7.88 | 11.90±7.50 | 0.001 | 15.14±6.13 | 0.45 |
| Prior IS (%)* | 63.8 | 58.2 | 0.50 | 50.0 | 0.25 |
| CTX | 9 (30.0%) | 9 (11.0%) | – | 3 (17.4%) | – |
| MMF | 10 (33.3%) | 30 (36.6%) | – | 5 (34.8%) | – |
| CNI | 2 (6.7%) | 5 (6.1%) | – | 1 (8.7%) | – |
| AZA | 4 (13.3%) | 13 (15.9%) | – | 2 (17.4%) | – |
| MTX | 4 (13.3%) | 19 (23.2%) | – | 3 (13.0%) | – |
| Others | 1 (3.3%) | 6 (7.3%) | – | 0 (0%) | – |
| Subsequent daily prednisone* | 13.62±6.01 | 10.31±6.51 | 0.002 | 12.59±4.98 | 0.45 |
| Subsequent IS (%)* | 48.9 | 63.9 | 0.09 | 42.9 | 0.64 |
p values in bold: p<0.05
*Prior daily prednisone and IS: medications used during the baseline period until infections/visits; subsequent daily prednisone and IS: medications used before flares within the index period.
AZA, azathioprine; CNI, calcineurin inhibitors; CTX, cyclophosphamide; HCQ, hydroxychloroquine; IS, immunosuppressive; MMF, mycophenolate mofetil; MTX, methotrexate; SLEDAI, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index; UTI, bacterial infections of the lower urinary tract; VZV, varicella zoster virus.