Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine uptake among individuals with rheumatic conditions remains low despite heightened risk for related adverse outcomes. This is especially pronounced among historically marginalized populations who suffered disproportionately from the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the myriad of reasons for low vaccine uptake, mistrust in the healthcare system, misinformation related to the vaccine development process, fear of rheumatic disease flares, and inconsistent physician recommendations, are highlighted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Inequities in COVID-19 infection and vaccine uptake among historically marginalised racial and ethnic groups in the USA persist. Individuals with rheumatic conditions, especially those who are immunocompromised, are especially vulnerable to severe infection, with significant racialised inequities in infection outcomes and in vaccine uptake. Structural racism, historical injustices and misinformation engender racial and ethnic inequities in vaccine uptake.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Rheum Dis
September 2024
Objectives: This study aims to determine the independent impact of definitions of remission/low disease activity (LDA) on direct/indirect costs (DCs, ICs) in a multicentre inception cohort.
Methods: Patients from 31 centres in 10 countries were enrolled within 15 months of diagnosis and assessed annually. Five mutually exclusive disease activity states (DAS) were defined as (1) remission off-treatment: clinical (c) SLEDAI-2K=0, without prednisone/immunosuppressants; (2) remission on-treatment: cSLEDAI-2K=0, prednisone ≤5 mg/day and/or maintenance immunosuppressants; (3) LDA-Toronto Cohort (TC): cSLEDAI-2K≤2, without prednisone/immunosuppressants; (4) modified lupus LDA state (mLLDAS): SLEDAI-2K≤4, no activity in major organs/systems, no new activity, prednisone ≤7.
Objective: Social determinants of health (SDoH) likely contribute to outcome disparities in lupus nephritis (LN). Understanding the overall burden and contribution of each domain could guide future health equity-focused interventions to improve outcomes and reduce disparities in LN. Objectives of this meta-analysis were to 1) determine the association of overall SDoH and specific SDoH domains on LN outcomes and 2) develop a framework for the multidimensional impact of SDoH on LN outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Accurately translated health materials are needed to achieve equity in vaccine uptake among U.S. individuals with non-English language preferences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a rare autoimmune disorder characterized by an unpredictable course of flares and remission with diverse manifestations. Lupus nephritis, one of the major disease manifestations of SLE for organ damage and mortality, is a key component of lupus classification criteria. Accurately identifying lupus nephritis in electronic health records (EHRs) would therefore benefit large cohort observational studies and clinical trials where characterization of the patient population is critical for recruitment, study design, and analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) Working Group held a Special Interest Group (SIG) at the OMERACT 2023 conference in Colorado Springs where SLE collaborators reviewed domain sub-themes generated through qualitative research and literature review.
Objective: The objective of the SIG and the subsequent meetings of the SLE Working Group was to begin the winnowing and binning of candidate domain sub-themes into a preliminary list of candidate domains that will proceed to the consensus Delphi exercise for the SLE COS.
Methods: Four breakout groups at the SLE SIG in Colorado Springs winnowed and binned 132 domain sub-themes into candidate domains, which was continued with a series of virtual meetings by an advisory group of SLE patient research partners (PRPs), members of the OMERACT SLE Working Group Steering Committee, and other collaborators.
Objective: To assess outcomes related to Lupus Therapeutics' Patient Advocates for Lupus Studies (LT-PALS), a peer-to-peer lupus clinical trial (LCT) education program designed to improve representation of diverse groups in LCTs. Patients with lupus and clinical trial participation experience were trained as peer educators (PALs) providing trial-agnostic education to trial-naive patients with lupus.
Methods: We used a two-arm, randomized pretest/posttest study design to evaluate outcomes related to LCT participation: knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and intentions to participate in an LCT.
Objective: The goals of this study were to assess the associations of severe nonadherence to hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), objectively assessed by HCQ serum levels, and risks of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) flares, damage, and mortality rates over five years of follow-up.
Methods: The Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) Inception Cohort is an international multicenter initiative (33 centers throughout 11 countries). The serum of patients prescribed HCQ for at least three months at enrollment were analyzed.
Objective: Disparities in COVID-19 vaccine and booster uptake persist. This study aimed to obtain perspectives from community and physician stakeholders on COVID-19 vaccine and booster hesitancy and strategies to promote vaccine uptake among Black individuals with rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions.
Methods: We invited community leaders and physicians in greater Boston and Chicago to participate in semi-structured interviews using a moderator guide developed a priori.
Objectives: A novel longitudinal clustering technique was applied to comprehensive autoantibody data from a large, well-characterised, multinational inception systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) cohort to determine profiles predictive of clinical outcomes.
Methods: Demographic, clinical and serological data from 805 patients with SLE obtained within 15 months of diagnosis and at 3-year and 5-year follow-up were included. For each visit, sera were assessed for 29 antinuclear antibodies (ANA) immunofluorescence patterns and 20 autoantibodies.
SLE is a global health concern that unevenly affects certain ethnic/racial groups. Individuals of Asian, Black, Hispanic and Indigenous ethnicity/race are amongst those who experience increased prevalence, incidence, morbidity and mortality. Population-based surveillance studies from many regions are few and often still in nascent stages.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To estimate direct and indirect costs associated with neuropsychiatric (NP) events in the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics inception cohort.
Methods: NP events were documented annually using American College of Rheumatology definitions for NP events and attributed to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or non-SLE causes. Patients were stratified into 1 of 3 NP states (no, resolved, or new/ongoing NP event).