Poor Outcomes for Some Children with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Child-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is uncommon and tends to be more severe than adult-onset disease. Researchers used data from the U.S. Pediatric Health Information System to examine socioeconomic disparities among 2775 children (age range, 3–18 years) with an SLE diagnosis validated by chart review.

Mean age at first admission was 14 years, 82% of patients were female, 40% were white, 35% were African-American, 5% were Asian, and 27% were Hispanic. A larger proportion of SLE patients (40%) were in hospitals in the South and a greater proportion of these patients had renal disease than patients in hospitals in other regions of the country.

Among 10,724 admissions from 2006 to 2011, hospitals with the highest SLE volume had shorte…