Disease activity status factors into care delivery preference in SLE

The physician-assessed disease activity of patients with systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) appears to impact patients’ decisions between in-person clinical visits and telemedicine, according to a study. The patient’s socioeconomic status also appeared to be important.

In this single-centered cross-sectional study, 140 from a single lupus nephritis clinic were offered the option to attend their next visit via videoconferencing.

Patients had a mean age of 45.6 ± 11.8 years, with a disease duration was 15.0 ± 9.2 years. Approximately 67% were on immunosuppressants and 90% were on prednisolone. The mean SLEDAI-2k was 3.4 ± 2.4, physician global assessment (PGA) was 0.46 ± 0.62 and Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) damage index was 0.97 ± 1.23. Most patients (72.1%) ≥1 comorbidities.

Patients with higher mean PGA and those with a combined-family income >%3,800/month preferred telemedicine whereas patients who worked full time preferred in-person follow-up.

These predictors remained significant in the multivariate analysis after adjusting for age and gender.

Reference
So H, Chow E, Cheng IT, et al. Factors Associated With Use of Telemedicine for Follow-Up of SLE in the COVID-19 Outbreak. Front Med (Lausanne). 2021;8:790652. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.790652. PMID: 34966764; PMCID: PMC8710609.