%0 Journal Article
%T Real
%A A Barnado
%A C P Chung
%A J B Boone
%A L J Crofford
%A L Wheless
%A W W Xiong
%J Lupus
%@ 1477-0962
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0961203319856088
%X Antimalarials (AMs) reduce disease activity and improve survival in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but studies have reported low AM prescribing frequencies. Using a real-world electronic health record cohort, we examined if patient or provider characteristics impacted AM prescribing. We identified 977 SLE cases, 94% of whom were ever prescribed an AM. Older patients and patients with SLE nephritis were less likely to be on AMs. Current age (odds ratio£¿=£¿0.97, p£¿<£¿0.01) and nephritis (odds ratio£¿=£¿0.16, p£¿<£¿0.01) were both significantly associated with ever AM use after adjustment for sex and race. Of the 244 SLE nephritis cases, only 63% were currently on AMs. SLE nephritis subjects who were currently prescribed AMs were more likely to be followed by a rheumatologist than a nephrologist and less likely to have undergone dialysis or renal transplant (both p£¿<£¿0.001). Non-current versus current SLE nephritis AM users had higher serum creatinine (p£¿<£¿0.001), higher urine protein (p£¿=£¿0.05), and lower hemoglobin levels (p£¿<£¿0.01). As AMs reduce disease damage and improve survival in patients with SLE, our results demonstrate an opportunity to target future efforts to improve prescribing rates among multi-specialty providers
%K Systemic lupus erythematosus
%K electronic health records
%K antimalarials
%K lupus nephritis
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0961203319856088