Delays to Care in Pediatric Lupus Patients: Data From the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance Legacy Registry. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken) 2018 Mar;70(3):420-427
Date
05/26/2017Pubmed ID
28544820Pubmed Central ID
PMC5700859DOI
10.1002/acr.23285Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85041642659 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 23 CitationsAbstract
OBJECTIVE: Prompt treatment for lupus is important to prevent morbidity. A potential barrier to early treatment of pediatric lupus is delayed presentation to a pediatric rheumatologist. To better understand factors contributing to delayed presentation among pediatric lupus patients, we examined differences in demographic and clinical characteristics of lupus patients within the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) Legacy Registry with regard to time between symptom onset and presentation to a pediatric rheumatologist.
METHODS: We analyzed data from 598 CARRA Legacy Registry participants for differences between those who presented early (within <1 month of symptom onset), between 1-3 months (typical presentation), with moderate delays (3-12 months), and with severe delays (≥1 year). Factors associated with early presentation, moderate delay, and severe delay were determined by multinomial logistic regression.
RESULTS: Forty-four percent of patients presented early, while 23% had moderate delays and 9% had severe delays. Family history of lupus, absence of discoid rash, and location in a state with a higher density of pediatric rheumatologists were associated with earlier presentation. Younger age, low household income (<$25,000 per year), and a family history of lupus were associated with severe delay.
CONCLUSION: Delays to care ≥1 year exist in a notable minority of pediatric lupus patients from the CARRA Legacy Registry. In this large and diverse sample of patients, access to care and family resources played an important role in predicting time to presentation to a pediatric rheumatologist.
Author List
Rubinstein TB, Mowrey WB, Ilowite NT, Wahezi DM, Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance INVESTIGATORSMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdolescentAge of Onset
Child
Delayed Diagnosis
Female
Humans
Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic
Male
North America
Pediatrics
Predictive Value of Tests
Registries
Retrospective Studies
Rheumatology
Risk Factors
Time Factors
Time-to-Treatment
Treatment Outcome