Antimalarials adherence lowers risk of death in systemic lupus erythematosus

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who adhered to antimalarials (AM) therapy lowered their risk of death by up to 71% compared to patients who did not adhere to AM therapy and 83% compared to those who discontinued AM, according to a study.

A total of 3062 individuals with SLE who were treated with AM were included and followed from their first day of therapy over a mean follow-up of 6.4 years. During this study period, 7.9% (n = 242) of patients died.

The adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) from Cox’s model for patients who were AM adherent were 0.20 (95% CI:0.13‐0.29) and for patients who were non‐adherent aHRs were 0.62 (95% CI:0.42‐0.91, compared to discontinuers.

The authors concluded that there was a significant trend in mortality risk over the adherence levels was found (P < 0.001).

Reference
Hoque MR, Avina-Zubieta JA, De Vera MA, et al. Impact of antimalarial adherence on mortality among patients with newly diagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus: A population‐based cohort study. Arthritis Care Res. 2021; https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.24550.