Abstract

Abstract Background/Aims There is little research on the mortality of Cuban patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), with not enough impact to recognize SLE as a health problem in the country. Our aim was to identify time trends and geographic variability in the mortality of Cuban patients with SLE. Methods Mortality data of decedents over 15 years old were retrieved from the Cuban Ministry of Public Health mortality database, based on International Classification of Disease (ICD), Tenth Revision (ICD-10, code M32). We computed age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) for each year and province as the estimated number of deaths per million inhabitants and its 95% confidence interval (95% CI) using World Health Organization reference population. The 2001-2014 time trends were analyzed using Jointpoint software. Results Between 2001 and 2014, 1,054 deaths from SLE were found, mostly women (89.0%), white (54.4%) with a median age of 43 years (interquartile range: 34-53). In 2014 the ASMR caused by SLE per million inhabitants was 14.4 (95% CI: 10.9 to 18.4) in women and 1.3 (95% CI: 0.5 to 3.2) in men. A growing time trend was identified in the ASMR by SLE throughout the period (average annual percentage change [AAPC]: 1.6; 95% CI: 0.6 to 2.6), highest in males (AAPC: 5.6; 95% CI: 1.7 to 9.7) than in females (AAPC: 1.2; 95% CI: 0.3 to 2.0). The highest mortality in women was concentrated in the provinces of Camagüey, Las Tunas and Granma, and in the case of men, in Havana and Ciego de Ávila. Conclusion The variation in the magnitude of the risk of dying from SLE over time and geographic areas indicates the possible influence of biological, environmental, socioeconomic and health systems factors. The growing trend in SLE mortality in Cuba demands its recognition as an important health problem and immediate actions that help mitigate it. Disclosure H. Hernández Negrín: None.

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