Baseline features of the hospitalised Systemic Lupus Inception Cohort
| Variables | ALL n=494 | Deceased n=29 | Survivors n=465 | P value |
| Demographic data | ||||
| Female | 432 (87) | 21 (72) | 411 (88) | 0.0118 |
| Age (years) | 36±14 | 50±19 | 35±14 | <0.0001 |
| SLE activity | ||||
| SLEDAI score | 11±6 | 16±9 | 11±6 | <0.0001 |
| Neuropsychiatric involvement | 69 (14) | 3 (10) | 66 (14) | 0.5619 |
| Pulmonary hypertension | 39 (8) | 7 (24) | 32 (7) | 0.0005 |
| Gastrointestinal involvement | 42 (8) | 6 (21) | 36 (8) | 0.0543 |
| Serositis | 144 (30) | 15 (52) | 129 (28) | 0.0036 |
| Nephritis | 207 (42) | 17 (59) | 190 (41) | 0.06 |
| Treatments received before enrolment | ||||
| Prednisone | 294 (60) | 23 (79) | 271 (58) | 0.0252 |
| Immunosuppressants | 77 (16) | 8 (28) | 69 (15) | 0.0663 |
| Laboratory tests | ||||
| Anti-ds-DNA+ | 350 (71) | 19 (66) | 331 (71) | 0.5148 |
| Low complement 3 | 418 (85) | 26 (90) | 392 (84) | 0.4382 |
| Leucocyte count <3×109/L | 64 (13) | 4 (14) | 60 (13) | 0.8899 |
| Lymphocyte count <0.8×109/L | 167 (34) | 18 (62) | 149 (32) | 0.0011 |
| Platelet count <100×109/L | 102 (21) | 15 (52) | 87 (19) | <0.0001 |
| Haemoglobin <110 g/L | 276 (56) | 26 (90) | 250 (54) | 0.0002 |
| IgG <7 g/L | 24 (5) | 3 (10) | 21 (5) | 0.1566 |
| Serum creatinine >104 µmol/L | 52 (11) | 13 (45) | 39 (8) | <0.0001 |
| Major infection | 67 (14) | 23 (79) | 44 (9) | <0.0001 |
Data are presented as mean±SD for continuous variables and number (frequency) (%) for categorical variables. The immunosuppressants included cyclophosphamide, mycophenolate mofetil, ciclosporin A, methotrexate, rituximab, tacrolimus, azathioprine, iguratimod and leflunomide.
ds-DNA, double-stranded DNA; SLEDAI, SLE Disease Activity Index.