Background/Purpose: Data published from several countries have suggested that patients affected by systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) may have high annual hospitalization rates. However, there is a lack of data regarding the incidence and causes of hospitalization in Canadian SLE patients. Our objective was to provide recent estimates for hospitalization rates, and reasons for admission, in a clinical systemic lupus (SLE) cohort.

Methods: We preformed a retrospective study of patients followed at the McGill University Health Center Lupus Clinic from the year 2000 till 2006. Each patient undergoes a yearly clinical assessment, which includes documentation of hospital admissions in the past year.

Results: Our SLE cohort consisted of 316 female patients and 27 males, with an average age of 46.3 years. Over the interval studied, there were 234 reported admissions.  SLE-related causes accounted for the highest proportion of hospitalizations (29.5%), and infections were the next most common reason for hospitalization (13.8%). Other categories included surgical and gynecological reasons for hospitalization (12.9% each), hospitalizations for cardiac and gastrointestinal causes (7.9% each) and other causes.

Conclusion: Canadian annual hospitalization rates are approximately 1.1 hospitalizations per 10,000 residents. Our results suggest much high hospitalization rates in SLE. Previous authors have emphasized disease flares and infections as common reasons for hospitalizations in SLE, and our data seems consistent with this. Further work is in progress, to provide more detailed comparisons with general population data.  

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/hospitalizations-and-reasons-for-admission-in-a-clinical-sle-cohort/