Abstract
Objective
To explore how patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases (CIRDs) coped with their disease during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify possible predictive factors of SARS-CoV-2 infection in this population.
Methods
Patients followed in a single rheumatology department in France or registered on the Spondy+ platform, a secure e-health platform for spondyloarthritis patients, were invited to complete a questionnaire focused on their experiences around COVID19 symptoms, testing and medications access during the lockdown period. Descriptive statistics were used to report questionnaire’s results. Factors associated with COVID-19 or with treatment discontinuation were assessed by logistic regression.
Results
We obtained 655 answers from the 2,081 contacted patients: 474 with spondyloarthritis, 129 with rheumatoid arthritis and 52 with psoriatic arthritis. The population was predominantly female (61.8%) with a mean age of 51.0 ± 13.4 years. Incidence of COVID-19 was 6.9% (95%CI: 5.1–9.2%), including 12 confirmed and 33 highly suspicious cases. No death was observed and five patients needed to be hospitalized. Factors independently associated with an increased risk of infection were SARS-CoV-2 exposure, younger age and non-smoking. More than 30% of the patients suspended or decreased the dosage of one of their drugs during the lockdown period. This was followed in 63.4% of them by increased disease activity. Modifications were mostly motivated by fear of contagion (79.3%).
Conclusion
We did not observe any increase of incidence or severity of COVID-19 in patients suffering of the 3 most common CIRDs. This survey also adds evidence of the safety of anti-rheumatic drugs use regarding COVID-19.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, psoriatic arthritis, Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, 【초록키워드】 Treatment, SARS-CoV-2, COVID19, Hospitalized, lockdown, SARS-COV-2 infection, COVID-19 pandemic, Infection, drug, Symptoms, severity of COVID-19, female, rheumatology, Patient, death, France, Logistic regression, age, incidence, medication, disease, questionnaire, patients, platform, Disease activity, Evidence, Inflammatory, Contagion, rheumatic disease, Predictive, Factor, increased risk, dosage, Descriptive statistics, Registered, Complete, objective, FIVE, observé, Result, identify, the patient, were used, anti-rheumatic drug, secure, were assessed, with COVID-19, 【제목키워드】 Treatment, risk factor, Features, clinical, Patient, Inflammatory, French,