Antiphospholipid antibodies, steroid dose, arterial hypertension, relapses, and late-onset predict organ damage in a population of Colombian patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Organ damage predicts mortality, increased accrual of detriment, and poor quality of life in systemic lupus erythematosus patients. The objective of this study is to determine the damage-free survival and its predictive factors in a population of Colombian subjects. The method used in this study is the retrospective follow-up of a cohort; damage was measured with SLICC/ACR index. Predictors of impairment were assessed by logistic regression and survival analysis. One hundred sixty-one individuals were included; 28.9% suffered damage, primarily neuropsychiatric, renal, and vascular. Arterial hypertension, antiphospholipid antibodies, prednisone dose, and number of relapses were all predictors of detriment. Onset after age 50 and daily prednisone dose higher than 7.5 mg determined earlier occurrence of damage.

Concordance and correlation of activity indices in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in northwestern Colombia: A cross-sectional study.

AIM: To determine the correlation and concordance between different clinimetric scores in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in two high-complexity reference centers in northwestern Colombia. METHOD: A cross-sectional study in adults diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis was conducted according to the 2010 American College of Rheumatology and European League Against Rheumatism Classification Criteria, between January and June, 2013. The correlation was evaluated using Spearman's correlation coefficient, and concordance with quadratic weighted kappa with the respective confidence intervals, for which patients were classified into different categories of disease activity. RESULTS: One hundred patients were included, of whom 83% were women; 58 and 75% received methotrexate and glucocorticoids, respectively. Most individuals were in remission or low activity. High correlations between Disease Activity Score of 28 joints - erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR) values with DAS28 C-reactive protein and Simple Disease Activity Index (SDAI) with Clinical Disease Activity Index (P < 0.0001; r = 0.82 and r = 0.86, respectively) were observed; likewise, the scores obtained with different indices correlated well with gold standard values for remission (SDAI), where the correlation with DAS28-ESR was slightly lower. Excellent concordance among all clinimetric scores was observed, although it was lower among DAS28-ESR and SDAI. CONCLUSION: Clinimetric indices had high concordance and correlation, especially for rheumatoid arthritis patients in remission or low disease activity, without being interchangeable among them.