Gender differences in disease activity and clinical features in newly diagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus patients

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this paper is to compare disease activity and clinical features at diagnosis in male and female patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study in which every male patient (n = 40) was matched with three female patients of the same age (±5 years) and racial/ethnic group; disease activity as per the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) and disease manifestations at the time of diagnosis were compared.

Results: Alopecia and anti-Ro antibodies were more frequent in female patients. No statistically significant difference in any other disease characteristics was found. However, male gender was associated with a risk of severe disease activity at the time of diagnosis (as determined by SLEDAI ≥12 score) independent of age, racial/ethnic group, anti-Ro positivity or time to criteria accrual (OR: 3.11 95% CI, 1.09-8.92; p = 0.035).

Conclusion: In newly diagnosed SLE patients, male gender is associated with higher disease activity despite the fact that male and female patients seem to experience similar overall disease manifestations.

Keywords: SLEDAI (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index); Systemic lupus erythematosus; gender; male.