Glucocorticoid Withdrawal Symptoms and Quality of Life in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Table 1
Demographics in the study population based on cortisol levels ().
Variables
Hypocortisolism ()
Eucortisolism ()
Hypercortisolism ()
value§
value¶
Female (, %)
24 (92.3%)
41 (83.7%)
23 (92%)
0.97
0.29
Age at enrollment (, year)
0.16
0.58
SLE duration (median, IQR, year)
11 (6, 19)
7 (3, 21)
9 (4, 19)
0.79
0.23
Clinical manifestation (, %)
Lupus nephritis
11 (42.3%)
22 (44.9%)
14 (56%)
0.33
0.83
Neuropsychiatric disorder
4 (15.4%)
4 (8.2%)
1 (4%)
0.17
0.34
Vasculitis
3 (11.5%)
4 (8.2%)
1 (4%)
0.32
0.63
Mucocutaneous disorder
21 (80.8%)
36 (73.5%)
20 (80%)
0.95
0.48
Musculoskeletal disorder
15 (57.7%)
32 (65.3%)
14 (56%)
0.90
0.52
Hematologic disorder
14 (53.8%)
26 (53.1%)
12 (48%)
0.68
0.95
Serositis
2 (7.7%)
7 (14.3%)
4 (16%)
0.36
0.40
Comorbidity at enrollment
Diabetes (, %)
0 (0%)
6 (12.2%)
1 (4%)
0.30
0.06
Cardiovascular disease (, %)
1 (3.8%)
6 (12.2%)
0 (0%)
0.32
0.23
mL/min/1.73 m2 (, %)
1 (3.8%)
2 (4.1%)
0 (0%)
0.32
0.96
Treatment
Cumulative doses of prednisolone, 6 months (median, IQR, grams)
0.02 (0, 0.45)
0 (0, 0.26)
0 (0, 0.34)
0.34
0.20
Antimalarial (, %)
22 (84.6%)
43 (87.8%)
21 (84%)
0.95
0.70
Immunosuppressive drugs (, %)
15 (57.7%)
25 (51%)
13 (52%)
0.68
0.58
Laboratories
Morning cortisol level (median, IQR, μg/dL)
5.86 (4.98, 6.53)
9.87 (8.65, 11.2)
14.1 (12.9, 16.3)
<0.001
<0.001
Disease activity
Adjusted mean cSLEDAI over the past 6 months (median, IQR)
0.42 (0, 1.5)
0 (0, 0)
0 (0, 0)
0.03
0.03
SDI (median, IQR)
0 (0, 1)
0 (0, 1)
0 (0, 1)
0.86
0.40
§Comparison between hypocortisolism and hypercortisolism. ¶Comparison between hypocortisolism and eucortisolism. CI: confidence interval; SLE: systemic lupus erythematosus; cSLEDAI: SLE disease activity index (clinical domains); SDI: Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index.
