Impact of follow-up visits on disease outcome in Chinese systemic lupus erythematosus

The objective of this study is to determine whether the frequency of visits would affect disease activity and disease damage in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We recruited 147 patients who met the 1997 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for SLE. Patients were divided into three groups based on follow-up frequency: <= 6 visits/year (group 1), 6-12 visits/year (group 2), and > 12 visits/year (group 3). Disease activity and organ damage were evaluated using the SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) and Systemic Lupus International Collaborative Clinics (SLICC)/ACR criteria, respectively. Data on disease features, patient characteristics, and treatment were retrospectively reviewed. We found that the SLICC score was significantly lower in patients with > 12 visits/year (P = 0.008), while the SLEDAI score showed no significant difference. The age at symptom onset (32.68 +/- 13.53) and the age at SLE diagnosis (33.32 +/- 13.81) in group 3 were significantly older than those in the other two groups. In univariate regression analysis, the frequency of visits, the age at symptom onset, and the age at SLE diagnosis were found to be associated with the SLICC scores. Visit frequency has no impact on SLE disease activity, but may be associated with less disease damage, an important outcome.