Short- and Long-Term Mortality of Hospitalized Patients with Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases and Serious Infections: A National Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE:Infectious conditions are a significant cause of mortality in autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARD). Among patients hospitalized with an infection, we compared in-hospital and long-term (3-year) mortality between those with and without ARD. METHODS:This retrospective analysis included members of the largest health maintenance organization in Israel, aged > 18 years at the first episode of infection, who required hospitalization during 2003-2019. We compared in-hospital mortality and the results of a 3-year landmark analysis of those who survived the index hospitalization, between patients with ARD, according to disease subgroups, and patients without ARD. Additionally, we compared mortality outcomes among patients with ARD, according to subgroup diagnosis, matched in a 1:3 ratio, by age, sex, and ethnicity, to patients without ARD. RESULTS:Included were 365,257 patients who were admitted for the first time with the diagnosis of a serious infection. Of these, we identified 9,755 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA); 1,351 with systemic lupus erythematosus; 2,120 with spondyloarthritis (SPA); 584 with scleroderma; and 3,214 with vasculitis. In a matched multivariate analysis, the risk for in-hospital mortality was lower among patients with RA (odds ratio [OR] 0.89, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.81-0.97) and SPA (OR 0.77, 95% CI 0.63-0.94). In a similar analysis, the risk of 3-year mortality was lower among patients with RA (hazard ratio [HR] 0.82, 95% CI 0.78-0.86) and vasculitis (HR 0.86, 95% CI 0.80-0.93). CONCLUSION:Among patients hospitalized for an infection, the risk of in-hospital and 3-year mortality was not increased among those with ARD compared to those without ARD.