Background/Purpose: Lupus is a systemic autoimmune disease that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues and organs. This study was conducted to analyze the trends of hospitalization in patients where lupus was any listed diagnosis among the residents in the State of Florida with data from Inpatient hospitalizations, discharged from civilian, non-federal hospitals located within Florida.

Methods: Data on hospitalization rates was sourced from the Florida Department of Health’s Florida CHARTS database. We included data from 1992 to 2023, utilizing hospitalization counts and rates per 100,000 population. The dataset was stratified by race (Black, White, and other categories), and ethnicity (Hispanic vs. non-Hispanic). For county-level analysis, age-adjusted hospitalization rates for lupus were compiled across the entire study period. Trends were assessed using Joinpoint regression analysis, which identified significant changes in the direction and magnitude of these trends over time. The results are expressed either as annual percent change (APC) and average annual percent change (AAPC), and their respective 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results: During 1992-2023, a total of 353,984 lupus-related hospitalizations were reported in Florida. In 2023, the age-adjusted rate per 100,000 of hospitalizations from or with lupus as any listed diagnosis in Orange County was 95.6 compared to Florida at 58.3, while the same for Miami-Dade county was 40.2 (Figure 1). Overall, from 1999-2023, the total number of hospitalizations in Orange county were 27,525 which ranked third in the State in terms of frequency, but in the highest quartile for age-adjusted hospitalization rate (Figure 2), followed by 2nd-ranked Broward county (n=33,159; third quartile) and most hospitalizations in Miami-Dade county (n=40,733; 2nd quartile). About 65% of the hospitalized patients were White, followed by 39% Black and 11% others. AAPC was found +1.86 [1.14-2.58] vs Black & others combined +1.84 [1.50-2.16], with significant p-value < 0.001 for Whites, 0.08 for Black (non-significant) and 0.01 for others (Figure 3). Data for Hispanics vs non-Hispanics were only available from 2004-2023 and showed non-significant declining trends (P=0.76).

Conclusion: Lupus can result in discomfort, lower quality of life, premature death, loss of productivity, and high medical costs from hospitalization. The State of Florida showed diverse trends in the hospitalization rates with lupus over the last three decades. By monitoring counts and rates of hospitalizations, public health professionals can take effective and timely action to prevent increases in disease and death.

Age-adjusted hospitalization rates with lupus in Florida, including Orange County (fourth quartile) and Miami-Dade county (second quartile).

County-wise distributions of age-adjusted hospitalization count and rates in the State of Florida from 1992-2023.

Racial and ethnic disparities for lupus-related hospitalizations in Florida.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/trends-in-hospitalization-rate-with-lupus-in-the-state-of-florida-a-retrospective-data-review-from-florida-health-charts-from-1992-2023/