Clinical outcomes in patients with SLE with and without COVID-19 according to SLE severity
| COVID-19 | Without COVID-19 | With COVID-19 | ||||||
| SLE severity | Total SLE, n=6091 | Mild SLE, n=3896 | Moderate SLE, n=1278 | Severe SLE, n=917 | Total SLE, n=54 | Mild SLE, n=31 | Moderate SLE, n=10 | Severe SLE, n=13 |
| All-cause | ||||||||
| Hospital admissions, n | 2056 | 615 | 409 | 1032 | 96 | 6 | 7 | 83 |
| Admission rate per 1000 patients | 338 | 158 | 320 | 1125 | 1778 | 194 | 700 | 6385 |
| Length of stay, bed days, mean (SD) | 4.6 (11.9) | 3.0 (8.6) | 5.3 (12.7) | 6.4 (15.0) | 12.8 (10.3) | 0.3 (0.6) | 17.3 (5.1) | 16.0 (10.9) |
| Total number of deaths | 45 | 14 | 19 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| COVID-19-specific | ||||||||
| Age at COVID-19 diagnosis, mean (SD) | – | – | – | – | 55.8 (17.8) | 53.7 (16.2) | 69.1 (18.9) | 54.1 (15.2) |
| COVID-19 severity, n (%) | ||||||||
| Mild | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 45 (83.3) | 29 (93.5) | 7 (70.0) | 9 (69.2) |
| Moderate | 6 (11.1) | 1 (3.2) | 3 (30.0) | 2 (15.4) | ||||
| Severe | 3 (5.6) | 1 (3.2) | 0 (0) | 2 (15.4) | ||||
| Hospital admissions, n | – | – | – | – | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Admission rate per 1000 patients | – | – | – | – | 185 | 65 | 300 | 385 |
| Length of stay, bed days, mean (SD) | ||||||||
| Overall | – | – | – | – | 2.1 (6.4) | 0.03 (0.2) | 4.4 (7.4) | 5.4 (10.7) |
| Moderate COVID-19* | – | – | – | – | 10.2 (6.2) | – | – | – |
| Severe COVID-19† | – | – | – | – | 18.0 (18.0) | – | – | – |
| Total number of deaths within 28 days of COVID-19 diagnosis | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| COVID-specific deaths (COVID-19 listed as primary cause of death) | 1 | 0 | 1‡ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Acute COVID-19 case fatality rate per 1000 patients | – | – | – | – | 19 | 0 | 0 | 77 |
| COVID-19 outcomes and directed therapies, n (%) | ||||||||
| Organ failure | – | – | – | – | 8 (14.8) | 1 (3.2) | 2 (20.0) | 5 (38.5) |
| Pneumonia | – | – | – | – | 7 (13.0) | 1 (3.2) | 3 (30.0) | 3 (23.1) |
| Respiratory distress | – | – | – | – | 1 (1.9) | 0 (0) | 1 (10.0) | 0 (0) |
| Oxygen therapy | – | – | – | – | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Mechanical ventilation | – | – | – | – | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
*Based on n=6 patients with SLE, diagnosed with moderate COVID-19.
†Based on n=1 patient with SLE, diagnosed with severe COVID-19.
‡Patient did not have a hospital admission with COVID-19, but in the ONS data COVID-19 was listed on the death certificate. The diagnosis for this patient in HES was J18 (pneumonia, organism unspecified).
HES, Hospital Episode Statistics; ONS, Office for National Statistics; SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus.