Clinical characteristics of patients with systemic rheumatic disease with COVID-19 infection (n=52) and age, sex and diagnosis date matched comparators (n=104) at the time of COVID-19 infection diagnosis
| Characteristic | Rheumatic disease (n=52) | No rheumatic disease (n=104) | P value |
| Age (mean, SD, years) | 62.5±15.1 | 63.1±14.9 | 0.81 |
| Female | 36 (69) | 72 (69) | 1.00 |
| Race | 0.20 | ||
| White | 30 (58) | 47 (45) | |
| Black or African-American | 11 (21) | 18 (17) | |
| Asian | 1 (2) | 7 (7) | |
| Other* | 10 (19) | 32 (31) | |
| Hispanic or Latinx ethnicity | 10 (19) | 30 (29) | 0.19 |
| Body mass index (mean, SD, kg/m2) | 29.8±q6.5 | 29.6±6.8 | 0.88 |
| Smoking status | 0.05 | ||
| Never | 29 (56) | 70 (67) | |
| Former | 20 (38) | 20 (19) | |
| Current | 2 (4) | 6 (6) | |
| Unknown | 1 (2) | 8 (8) | |
| Comorbidities (median (IQR)) | 1 (0–2) | 1 (0–2) | 0.30 |
| Hypertension | 34 (65) | 50 (50) | 0.06 |
| Diabetes | 13 (25) | 29 (29) | 0.63 |
| Coronary artery disease | 12 (23) | 10 (10) | 0.03 |
| Heart failure | 4 (8) | 11 (11) | 0.53 |
| Pulmonary disease† | 21 (40) | 28 (28) | 0.11 |
| Interstitial lung disease | 3 (6) | 0 | 0.01 |
| Asthma | 14 (27) | 17 (16) | 0.11 |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 2 (4) | 7 (7) | 0.47 |
| Obstructive sleep apnoea | 7 (13) | 4 (4) | 0.03 |
| Rheumatological diagnosis‡ | |||
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 19 (37) | ||
| Systemic lupus erythematosus | 10 (19) | ||
| Polymyalgia rheumatica | 7 (13) | ||
| Seronegative spondyloarthritis | 7 (13) | ||
| Myositis | 3 (6) | ||
| Giant cell arteritis | 1 (2) | ||
| Sarcoidosis | 1 (2) | ||
| Small vessel vasculitis | 2 (4) | ||
| Juvenile idiopathic arthritis | 1 (2) | ||
| Kikuchi’s disease | 1 (2) | ||
| Rheumatic disease duration (mean, SD, years) | 13.0±9.8 | ||
| Rheumatic disease status | |||
| Remission | 19 (37) | ||
| Active disease | 33 (63) | ||
| Hydroxychloroquine | 9 (17) | ||
| Hydroxychloroquine monotherapy | 5 (10) | ||
| Any immunosuppressive medication§ | 39 (75) | ||
| Biological DMARDs | 16 (31) | ||
| TNF inhibitor | 7 (13) | ||
| IL-6 receptor inhibitor | 1 (2) | ||
| Belimumab | 2 (4) | ||
| Rituximab | 3 (6) | ||
| IL-12/IL-23 inhibitor | 2 (4) | ||
| Abatacept | 1 (2) | ||
| Targeted synthetic DMARDs | 3 (6) | ||
| Tofacitinib | 3 (6) | ||
| Conventional synthetic DMARDs | 16 (31) | ||
| Methotrexate | 9 (17) | ||
| Leflunomide | 4 (8) | ||
| Mycophenolate mofetil | 3 (6) | ||
| Oral glucocorticoid | 19 (37) | ||
| Prednisone-equivalent daily dose (median, IQR, mg) | 5 (5–10) |
Data are represented by mean ±SD or number (percentage) unless otherwise indicated. There were no known pregnancies in either cohort.
*Other race includes American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander and not reported.
†Pulmonary disease included interstitial lung disease, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or obstructive sleep apnoea.
‡Of the seven patients with spondyloarthropathy, four had psoriatic arthritis, two had ankylosing spondylitis and one had reactive arthritis. Of the two patients with small vessel vasculitis, one had granulomatosis with polyangiitis and one had cutaneous leukocytoclastic vasculitis.
§Hydroxychloroquine was not included as an immunosuppressive medication. Glucocorticoids, biological DMARDs, conventional synthetic DMARDs and targeted synthetic DMARDs were included. TNF inhibitor use included three patients on etanercept, two on infliximab and two on adalimumab.
DMARD, disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; IL, interleukin; TNF, tumour necrosis factor.