Table 1 Association between baseline patient characteristics and flare status
From: Low frequency of flares during pregnancy and post-partum in stable lupus patients
Characteristic | During pregnancy | Post-partum | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total, n = 384 | No flare, n = 284 | Flare, n = 100 | p value | Total, n = 234 | No flare, n = 177 | Flare, n = 57 | p value | |
Demographic characteristics | ||||||||
Ethnicity/race | 0.019 | 0.85 | ||||||
Non-Hispanic White | 188 (49) | 149 (52.5) | 39 (39) | 118 (50.4) | 90 (50.8) | 28 (49.1) | ||
Hispanic White | 30 (7.8) | 19 (6.7) | 11 (11) | 15 (6.4) | 13 (7.3) | 2 (3.5) | ||
African American | 78 (20.3) | 53 (18.7) | 25 (25) | 42 (17.9) | 30 (16.9) | 12 (21.1) | ||
Asian | 41 (10.7) | 34 (12.0) | 7 (7) | 32 (13.7) | 25 (14.1) | 7 (12.3) | ||
Other | 10 (2.6) | 8 (2.8) | 2 (2) | 7 (3) | 5 (2.8) | 2 (3.5) | ||
Unknown | 37 (9.6) | 21 (7.4) | 16 (16) | 20 (8.5) | 14 (7.9) | 6 (10.5) | ||
Mean age (SD), years | 30.92 (4.89) | 31.4 (4.73) | 29.56 (5.08) | 0.002 | 31.19 (4.48) | 31.24 (4.39) | 31.04 (4.78) | 0.78 |
Ever lupus nephritis | 0.75 | 0.53 | ||||||
No | 264 (68.8) | 197 (69.4) | 67 (67) | 160 (68) | 123 (69) | 37 (65) | ||
Yes | 120 (31.2) | 87 (30.6) | 33 (33) | 74 (32) | 54 (41) | 20 (35) | ||
Laboratory values | ||||||||
Anti dsDNA antibodies | 0.85 | 0.47 | ||||||
Negative | 217 (58) | 162 (58.5) | 55 (56.7) | 132 (64) | 98 (62) | 34 (69) | ||
Positive | 157 (42) | 115 (41.5) | 42 (43.3) | 74 (36) | 59 (38) | 15 (31) | ||
aPL (LAC, aβ2GP1, aCL) | 0.25 | 0.15 | ||||||
Negative | 322 (83.9) | 234 (82.4) | 88 (88) | 195 (83) | 144 (81) | 51 (89) | ||
Positive | 62 (16.1) | 50 (17.6) | 12 (12) | 39 (17) | 33 (19) | 6 (11) | ||
LAC | 0.17 | 0.64 | ||||||
Negative | 350 (91.1) | 255 (89.8) | 95 (95) | 213 (91) | 162 (92) | 51 (89) | ||
Positive | 34 (8.9) | 29 (10.2) | 5 (5) | 21 (9) | 15 (8) | 6 (11) | ||
Urinary protein excretion > 500 mg/day | 1 | 1 | ||||||
No | 338 (91.1) | 251 (91.3) | 87 (90.6) | 201 (89) | 153 (89) | 48 (89) | ||
Yes | 33 (8.9) | 24 (8.7) | 9 (9.4) | 24 (11) | 18 (11) | 6 (11) | ||
Platelet count | ||||||||
Mean (SD), × 106 cells/L | 253.1 (84.32) | 252.96 (84.25) | 253.39 (84.94) | 0.97 | 234.56 (75.25) | 236.41 (76.23) | 228.73 (72.49) | 0.52 |
< 100 × 106 cells/L | 0.054 | |||||||
No | 369 (97.6) | 276 (98.6) | 93 (94.9) | |||||
Yes | 9 (2.4) | 4 (1.4) | 5 (5.1) | |||||
Low complement | 0.021 | 0.61 | ||||||
No | 251 (65.9) | 195 (69.4) | 56 (56) | 155 (74) | 120 (75) | 35 (70) | ||
Yes | 130 (34.1) | 86 (30.6) | 44 (44) | 55 (26) | 40 (25) | 15 (30) | ||
Mean C3 (SD) g/L | 104.57 (27.15) | 105.06 (26.15) | 103.17 (29.91) | 0.56 | 121.86 (28.55) | 120.75 (28.20) | 125.37 (29.65) | 0.34 |
C3 low or normal | 0.10 | |||||||
Normal | 291 (80) | 221 (82.2) | 70 (73.7) | |||||
Low | 73 (20) | 48 (17.8) | 25 (26.3) | |||||
Mean C4 (SD), g/L | 19.84 (8.28) | 20.3 (8.46) | 18.40 (7.68) | 0.051 | 21.07 (9.23) | 21.36 (9.36) | 20.20 (8.87) | 0.43 |
C4 low or normal | 0.005 | |||||||
Normal | 266 (74.1) | 207 (78.1) | 59 (62.8) | |||||
Low | 93 (25.9) | 58 (21.9) | 35 (37.2) | |||||
Disease activity | ||||||||
SLEPDAI | ||||||||
Mean score (SD) | 2.79 (2.99) | 2.55 (2.89) | 3.47 (3.18) | 0.012 | 2.09 (2.76) | 2.22 (2.76) | 1.68 (2.76) | 0.22 |
SLEPDAI > 4 | 0.015 | 0.38 | ||||||
No | 310 (81.6) | 237 (84.6) | 73 (73) | 192 (88) | 143 (87) | 49 (92) | ||
Yes | 70 (18.4) | 43 (15.4) | 27 (27) | 26 (12) | 22 (13) | 4 (8) | ||
PGA | ||||||||
Mean score (SD) | 0.4 (0.54) | 0.33 (0.5) | 0.59 (0.6) | p < 0.001 | 0.35 (0.5) | 0.34 (0.5) | 0.39 (0.52) | 0.49 |
PGA > 1 | 0.005 | 0.55 | ||||||
No | 327 (89.3) | 249 (92.2) | 78 (81.2) | 201 (93) | 155 (94) | 46 (90) | ||
Yes | 39 (10.7) | 21 (7.8) | 18 (18.8) | 15 (7) | 10 (6) | 5 (10) | ||
Current medications | ||||||||
Glucocorticoids | 0.25 | 1 | ||||||
No | 230 (59.9) | 175 (61.6) | 55 (55) | 136 (58) | 103 (58) | 33 (58) | ||
Yes | 154 (40.1) | 109 (38.4) | 45 (45) | 98 (42) | 74 (42) | 24 (42) | ||
Hydroxychloroquine | 0.79 | 0.23 | ||||||
No | 136 (35.4) | 99 (34.9) | 37 (37) | 79 (34) | 56 (32) | 23 (40) | ||
Yes | 248 (64.6) | 185 (65.1) | 63 (63) | 155 (66) | 121 (68) | 34 (60) | ||
Azathioprine | 0.41 | 0.52 | ||||||
No | 314 (81.8) | 229 (80.6) | 85 (85) | 186 (79) | 139 (79) | 47 (82) | ||
Yes | 70 (18.2) | 55 (19.4) | 15 (15) | 48 (21) | 38 (21) | 10 (18) | ||
Heparin | 0.34 | 0.42 | ||||||
No | 300 (78.1) | 218 (76.8) | 82 (82) | 184 (79) | 137 (77) | 47 (82) | ||
Yes | 84 (21.9) | 66 (23.2) | 18 (18) | 50 (21) | 40 (23) | 10 (18) | ||
Aspirin | 0.17 | 0.24 | ||||||
No | 249 (64.8) | 178 (62.7) | 71 (71) | 162 (69) | 119 (67) | 43 (75) | ||
Yes | 135 (35.2) | 106 (37.3) | 29 (29) | 72 (31) | 58 (33) | 14 s(25) | ||
Anti-hypertensives | 1 | 0.44 | ||||||
No | 351 (91.4) | 260 (91.5) | 91 (91) | 215 (92) | 164 (93) | 51 (89) | ||
Yes | 33 (8.6) | 24 (8.5) | 9 (9) | 19 (8) | 13 (7) | 6 (11) | ||
Flares during pregnancy | – | – | – | – | 0.69 | |||
No | – | – | – | 169 (72) | 129 (73) | 40 (70) | ||
Yes | – | – | – | 65 (28) | 48 (27) | 17 (30) | ||