Characteristics of the patients with rheumatic diseases and symptomatic COVID-19
| Variable | RA (n=154) | SpA (n=165) | SLE (n=61) | Other RD (n=46) | Total (n=426) |
| Age (years), median (IQR) | 59.5 (48.1–67.5) | 52.8 (44.6–60.9) | 48.5 (40.4–57.9) | 57.0 (31.1–64.6) | 55.1 (44.6–63.3) |
| Sex (male), n (%) | 29 (19%) | 87 (53%) | 6 (10%) | 11 (24%) | 133 (31%) |
| Race, n (%) | |||||
| Caucasian | 126 (82) | 160 (97) | 54 (88) | 42 (92) | 382 (90) |
| Latin American | 22 (14) | 3 (2) | 6 (10) | 2 (4) | 33 (8) |
| Others | 6 (4) | 2 (1) | 1 (2) | 2 (4) | 11 (2) |
| Tobacco, n (%) | |||||
| Current smoker | 15 (10) | 23 (14) | 10 (16) | 3 (7) | 51 (12) |
| Former smoker | 35 (23) | 38 (23) | 25 (41) | 6 (13) | 104 (24) |
| Non-smoker | 104 (67) | 104 (63) | 26 (43) | 37 (89) | 271 (64) |
| BMI, mean±SD | 27.5±5.1 | 28.5±5.4 | 26.3±6.0 | 25.5±4.7 | 27.5±5.4 |
| ≥30 Obesity, n (%) | 47 (30) | 68 (41) | 8 (13) | 10 (22) | 133 (31) |
| Overweight/obesity, n (%) | 107 (70) | 117 (71) | 37 (61) | 23 (50) | 284 (67) |
| Rheumatic disease duration (years), median (IQR) | 10.7 (6.1–15.2) | 9.2 (4.4–17.6) | 16.2 (11.7–21.9) | 11.1 (2.7–14.8) | 11.0 (5.8–17.4) |
| COVID-19 diagnosis, n (%) | |||||
| Confirmed cases | 113 (73) | 111 (67) | 38 (62) | 32 (70) | 294 (69) |
| Suspected cases | 41 (27) | 54 (33) | 23 (38) | 14 (30) | 132 (31) |
| COVID-19 outcomes, n (%) | |||||
| Recovered without sequelae | 136 (88) | 156 (94) | 54 (88) | 40 (87) | 386 (91) |
| Recovered with sequelae | 9 (6) | 6 (4) | 3 (5) | 3 (7) | 21 (5) |
| Death | 9 (6) | 3 (2) | 4 (7) | 3 (7) | 19 (4) |
| Hospitalisation, n (%) | 54 (35) | 30 (18) | 13 (21) | 9 (20) | 106 (25) |
| ICU admission, n (%) | 12 (8) | 4 (2) | 4 (7) | 1 (2) | 21 (5) |
| Last available DAS-28, mean±SD | 3.6±1.7 | 2.7±1.3 | – | – | 3.2±1.6 |
| Treatments (last treatment previous to COVID-19 diagnosis) | |||||
| bDMARD, n (%) | |||||
| TNF inhibitors | 54 (35) | 105 (64) | – | 16 (35) | 175 (41) |
| IL-17 inhibitors | – | 18 (11) | – | – | 18 (4) |
| IL-1-inhibitor | 2 (1) | – | – | – | 2 (0.5) |
| Anti-B cells | 9 (6) | – | 12 (20) | 3 (7) | 24 (6) |
| Anti-CD20 | 9 (6) | – | 3 (5) | 3 (7) | 15 (3.5) |
| Anti-BAFF | – | – | 9 (15) | – | 9 (2) |
| IL-6 inhibitors | 16 (10) | – | – | 5 (11) | 21 (5) |
| Others (T cell activation inhibitor, IL-12/23 inhibitor) | 13 (8) | 8 (5) | 1 (2) | 5 (11) | 27 (6) |
| tsDMARD, n (%) | |||||
| Apremilast (inh. PDE4) | – | 7 (4) | – | – | 7 (2) |
| Baricitinib | 15 (10) | 1 (0.6) | – | – | 16 (4) |
| Tofacitinib | 22 (14) | – | – | – | 22 (5) |
| csDMARD, n (%) | |||||
| Methotrexate | 56 (36) | 29 (18) | 3 (5) | 9 (20) | 97 (23) |
| Chloroquine | 11 (7) | – | 32 (53) | 3 (7) | 46 (11) |
| Other | 27 (17) | 15 (9) | 9 (15) | 3 (7) | 54 (13) |
| Glucocorticoids, n (%) | 81 (53) | 21 (13) | 31 (51) | 18 (39) | 151 (35) |
| NSAIDs, n (%) | 36 (23) | 58 (35) | 4 (7) | 4 (9) | 102 (24) |
| ACEI, n (%) | 16 (10) | 17 (10) | 10 (16) | 2 (4) | 45 (11) |
| Comorbidities | |||||
| Charlson index | |||||
| Mean±SD | 2.2±1.8 | 1.7±1.0 | 2.3±1.9 | 2.5±2.2 | 2.1±1.6 |
| Median (IQR) | 2 (1–3) | 1 (1–2) | 1 (1–3) | 1.5 (1–4) | 1 (1–3) |
ACEI, ACE inhibitors; bDMARD, biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; BMI, body mass index; csDMARD, conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; DAS-28, Disease activity score-28; ICU, intensive care unit; IL, interleukin; NSAIDs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; RD, rheumatic diseases; SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus; SpA, spondyloarthropathies; TNF, tumour necrosis factor; tsDMARD, targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.