ANTIMALARIALS IN THE TREATMENT OF SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS IN DENMARK - A NATIONWIDE REGISTER BASED COHORT STUDY

Background: Evidence based international guidelines for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) recommend anti-malarias (AMs) are taken by all SLE patients irrespective of disease activity. Only few studies have investigated the use of AMs among newly diagnosed patients with SLE. Objectives: To analyze prescription patterns of AMs in newly diagnosed SLE patients in Denmark for the years 2000 -2011. Methods: Using The Danish Prescription Register (DNPR) we conducted a nationwide Danish cohort study including all patients with a first time diagnosis of SLE (The Danish National Registry of Patients (NPR)). We used Kaplan-Meier estimates to compute the cumulative probability of starting AM treatment within a year and Cox regression analysis to compare time to treatment between patient groups. Results: AMs were prescribed to 37.7% of the newly diagnosed SLE patients within the first year of follow-up. Approximately 20% did not receive any treatment. Women were more likely than men to start AM (adjusted HR of 1.26 (95% CI 1.06-1.50)). Patients diagnosed with SLE between in 2005-2011 were more likely to start treatment than patients diagnosed in 2000-2004 (HR of 1.33 (95% CI 1.17-1.51)). Patients with renal disease were less likely to start AM treatment than patients without this condition (adjusted HR of 0.67 (95% CI 0.56-0.83)). Current users of prednisolone were more likely to start AM treatment than non-users ((adjusted HR 1.93 (95% CI 1.68-2.23). Conclusions: Our results showed that more Danish SLE patients should be prescribed AMs, especially patients with renal disease, to be in agreement with evidence based international guidelines. Acknowledgements: For making this project possible, we wish to thank the following institutions: Institute of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University. Department of Rheumatology, Aarhus University Hospital. Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital and Gigtforenningen. There were no conflicts of interest. Disclosure of Interest: None declared DOI: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.2951Citation: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, volume 73, supplement 2, year 2014, page 968Session: SLE, Sjögren's and APS - treatment (Abstracts accepted for publication )