Disease characteristics of 77 patients with SLE
| Baseline | Follow-up | P value | |
| Disease duration, years | 11.4 (8.9) | 18.7 (9.0) | NA |
| History of nephritis % | 35.6 | 45.8 | 0.5 |
| Flare during follow-up % | NA | 69.3 | NA |
| SLEDAI | 3.0 (4.1) | 1.6 (2.7) | 0.008 |
| SLICC | 1.1 (1.5) | 2.1 (1.4) | < 0.001 |
| History of APS % | NA | 24.6 | – |
| aPL antibodies % | 44.9 | NA | – |
| Current SLE medications % | |||
| Prednisolone | 59.7 | 53.3 | 0.3 |
| Current dose, mg/day | 6.3 (4.5) | 6.1 (3.5) | 0.9 |
| HCQ | 51.9 | 43.2 | 0.3 |
| AZA | 19.5 | 10.7 | 0.1 |
| MTX | 10.4 | 6.7 | 0.7 |
| MMF | 7.8 | 17.3 | 0.065 |
| No DMARDs | 10.4 | 25.3 | 0.003 |
| History of SLE medications (ever) % | |||
| Prednisone | 92.2 | 97.4 | 0.3 |
| Cumulative duration, months | 67.5 (67.8) | 117.3 (97.2) | NA |
| Cumulative dose, g | 16.7 (15.0) | 26.7 (21.7) | NA |
| Average dose, mg/day | 4.1 (3.3) | 4.2 (4.2) | 0.3 |
| HCQ | 87.0 | 93.5 | 0.063 |
| Cyclophosphamide and/or rituximab | 16.9 | 35.6 | < 0.001 |
Values are means (SD) unless noted otherwise; p value represents the comparisons between baseline and follow-up assessments.
aPL, antiphospholipid antibodies; APS, antiphospholipid syndrome; AZA, azathioprine; DMARDs, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; HCQ, hydroxychloroquine; MMF, mycophenolate mofetil; MTX, methotrexate; NA, not available; SLEDAI, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (without laboratory tests); SLICC, Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (damage index).