Rodolfo Nicolas Alvarado, Gelsomina Alle, Mayra Alejandra Tobar-Jaramillo, Luis Carlos Palomino, Agustín Gabriel Cáceres, Javier Eduardo Rosa, Gerardo Machnicki, Federico Zazzetti, Enrique Soriano, Marina Scolnik
OBJECTIVE: The aim is to analyze health care resource utilization (HCRU) of patients with lupus (SLE) from a health management organization (HMO) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, compared with matched controls and comparing periods of flare, low disease activity, and remission. METHODS: This is a retrospective observational study including all SLE incident cases (ACR 1997/SLICC 2012 criteria) between 2000 and 2020 and 5 matched controls. Clinical data and HCRU (medical and nonmedical consultations, lab and imaging tests performed, emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and drugs prescribed) were obtained from administrative databases and electronic medical records...
December 2023: Lupus