Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and comparison between the SLE subgroups: patients with (NPSLE) and without (Non-NPSLE) neuropsychiatric syndromes. The data are frequencies (%) or mean (SD).
| Characteristics | SLE Group, n = 85 | Non-NPSLE, n = 57 | NPSLE, n = 28 | Non-NPSLE vs NPSLE, p |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic | ||||
| Female (%) | 81 (95.3) | 55 (96.5) | 26 (92.9) | 0.595 |
| Age, yrs | 41.02 (11.9) | 39.2 (11.1) | 44.8 (12.8) | 0.058 |
| Education, yrs | 11.2 (5) | 11.8 (4.8) | 10.2 (5.3) | 0.224 |
| Current smoking habit (%) | 15 (17.6) | 11 (19.3) | 4 (14.3) | 0.764 |
| Mini-Mental State Examination | 28.1 (2.2) | 28.5 (1.5) | 27.3 (2.9) | 0.073 |
| Clinical chart review | ||||
| Age at onset, yrs | 29.3 (11.9) | 28.1 (11.3) | 31.7 (13.1) | 0.293 |
| Disease duration, yrs | 11.8 (7.8) | 11.1 (7.7) | 13.2 (7.9) | 0.191 |
| History of headaches (%) | 53 (62.4) | 35 (61.4) | 18 (64.3) | 0.797 |
| APS (%) | 14 (16.5) | 6 (10.5) | 8 (28.6) | 0.059 |
| Persistent aPL (%) | 33 (38.8) | 19 (33.3) | 14 (50) | 0.138 |
| Current medication (%) | ||||
| Acetylsalicylic acid | 22 (8.2) | 15 (26.3) | 7 (25) | 0.896 |
| Antidepressant | 31 (36.5) | 19 (33.3) | 12 (42.9) | 0.391 |
| Benzodiazepine | 35 (41.2) | 18 (31.6) | 17 (60.7) | 0.010 |
| Hydroxychloroquine | 59 (69.4) | 42 (73.7) | 17 (60.7) | 0.223 |
| Hypocoagulant | 7 (8.2) | 5 (8.8) | 2 (7.1) | > 0.999 |
| Immunosuppressant | 13 (15.3) | 10 (17.5) | 3 (10.7) | 0.531 |
| Prednisone | 56 (65.9) | 36 (63.2) | 20 (71.4) | 0.450 |
Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test (when applicable) were used for all group comparisons, except for age, education, Mini-Mental State, age at onset, and disease duration, in which the Mann-Whitney U Test was used. APS: secondary clinical antibody antiphospholipid syndrome according to international consensus criteria36; persistent aPL: persistent antiphospholipid antibodies as defined by elevated anticardiolipin antibodies, lupus anticoagulant, and/or ß2-glycoprotein I antibodies on 2 different occasions; headaches without clinical or neuro-radiological evidence of central nervous system involvement.