Characteristics of patients at the physician’s decision to stop GCs
| Patients who attempted GCs stopping (n=91) | Patients who successfully stopped GCs (n=77) | Patients who were unable to stop GC (n=14) | |
| SLEDAI (median (IQR)) | 2 (0–2) | 0 (0–2)* | 2 (2–2) |
| SLEDAI >4, n (%) | 6 (6.6) | 4 (5.2) | 2 (14.3) |
| Complete remission, n (%) | 44 (48.3) | 42 (54.2)† | 3 (21.4) |
| Clinical remission, n (%) | 36 (39.6) | 29 (37.3)‡ | 9 (64.3) |
| LLDAS (not remission), n (%) | 9 (9.9) | 7 (9.2) | 2 (14.3) |
| LLDAS, n (%) | 89 (97.8) | 75 (97) | 14 (100) |
| Duration from last flare, years (median (IQR)) | 3 (2–6.5) | 4 (2–7) | 3 (2–7) |
| HCQ, % | 74.2 | 78 | |
| IS, % | 37 | 34 | |
| Biological, % | 4.7 | 4 | |
| Patients who flared after GCs stopping (n=18) | Patients who did not flare after GCs stopping (n=59) | ||
| SLEDAI (median (IQR)) | 2 (1–4)§ | 2 (0–2) | |
| SLEDAI >4, n (%) | 3 (16.6)¶ | 1(1.7) | |
| Complete remission, n (%) | 8 (44.4) | 33 (55.9) | |
| Clinical remission, n (%) | 5 (27.8) | 24 (40.6) | |
| LLDAS (not remission), n (%) | 4 (22.2)** | 3 (5.08) | |
| LLDAS, n (%) | 16 (94.1) | 58 (98.3) | |
| Duration from last flare, years (median (IQR)) | 1.5 (0.5–4)†† | 5 (2–10) | |
| HCQ, % | 73.3 | 74.5 | |
| IS, % | 26 | 41 | |
| Biological, % | 0 | 6 |
*With respect to patients who failed, p=0.01
†With respect to patients who failed, p=0.02.
‡With respect to patients who failed, p=0.04.
§With respect to patients who did not flare, p=0.008.
¶With respect to patients who did not flare, p=0.004.
**With respect to patients who did not flare p=0.02.
††With respect to patients who did not flare, p<0.001