Hydroxychloroquine Lowers SLE and RA Hospitalizations Save
A population based study from British Columbia, Canada, shows that antimalarial adherence was associated with a lower risk of hospital admission in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
A provincial administrative claims database study included all patients with incident RA or SLE taking a new antimalarial (1997-2022).. Patient antimalarial adherence was defined as the proportion of days covered [PDC] ≥ 0.90. Adherence was correlated with hospital admissions, hospitalized days, and hospitalization cost were assessed in the following year.
They compared two cohorts: 8,768 antimalarial adherent and 16,479 antimalarial nonadherent, propensity score-matched individuals with RA and SLE. The adjusted rate ratios favored those adherent to antimalartials for:
- Hospital admissions (0.89; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.84–0.94)
- Hospitalized days (0.79; CI 0.71–0.88)
- Average hospitalization costs (CAD -$549.64, P < 0.01) for antimalarial adherent patients than nonadherent patients.
Adherence to antimalarials was associated with a significant 11% reduction in hospital admissions and 21% fewer hospitalized days and lower overall hospitalization costs (CAD $549.64 lower).
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