Ma H, et al. – The experts wished to analyze whether the frequency of visits would affect disease activity and disease damage in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Their findings represented that visit frequency has no impact on SLE disease activity, however, might be associated with less disease damage.

• This study enrolled 147 patients who met the 1997 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for SLE.
• Patients were divided into 3 groups based on follow–up frequency: ≤ 6 visits/year (group 1), 6–12 visits/year (group 2), and > 12 visits/year (group 3).
• Disease activity and organ damage were evaluated using the SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) and Systemic Lupus International Collaborative Clinics (SLICC)/ACR criteria, respectively.
• Data on disease features, patient characteristics, and treatment were retrospectively collected.
• The experts discovered that the SLICC score was significantly lower in patients with > 12 visits/year (P = 0.008), while the SLEDAI score showed no significant difference.
• The age at symptom onset (32.68 ± 13.53) and the age at SLE diagnosis (33.32 ± 13.81) in group 3 were significantly older than those in the other two groups.
• In univariate regression analysis, the frequency of visits, the age at symptom onset, and the age at SLE diagnosis were found to be associated with the SLICC scores.