Outcome clusters and their stability over 1 year in patients with SLE: self-reported and performance-based cognitive function, disease activity, mood and health-related quality of life.

To determine if self-reported fatigue, anxiety, depression, cognitive difficulties, health-related quality of life, disease activity scores and neuropsychological battery (NB) cluster into distinct groups in patients with SLE based on symptom intensity and if they change at 1-year follow-up. This is a retrospective analysis of consecutive consenting patients, followed at a single centre. Patients completed a comprehensive NB, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, Fatigue Severity Scale, Short-Form Health Survey Physical Component Summary and Mental Component Summary scores and the Perceived Deficits Questionnaire. Disease activity was assessed by Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index 2000. Ward's method was used for clustering and principal component analysis was used to visualise the number of clusters. Stability at 1 year was assessed with kappa statistic. Among 142 patients, three clusters were found: Three distinct clusters of symptom intensity were documented in patients with SLE in association with cognitive function. There was a lower tendency for patients in the mild and severe clusters to move but not moderate cluster over the course of a year. This may demonstrate an opportunity for intervention to have moderate cluster patients move to mild cluster instead of moving to severe cluster. Further studies are necessary to assess factors that affect movement into moderate cluster.

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Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Competing interests: AG reports consulting fees from AbbVie. MB reports support from NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre, Arthritis Society, Lupus Canada and Lupus Foundation of America. MC reports consulting fees from AstraZeneca, Mallinckrodt, GSK, Organon and MitogenDx. SA reports speaker fees from GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca. RG reports grants from Branch Out Neurological Foundation, Australian Research Council, Lupus Research Alliance, VISTA Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), INS Board of Governors and Brain Injury Canada Scientific Advisory Committee. JW reports indirect support from multiple drug companies through Lupus 21st Century for meeting attendance.