Impact of chronic urticaria on systemic lupus erythematosus: A nationwide population‐based study in Taiwan

Abstract

Chronic urticaria (CU) may be closely pathogenically related to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This study aims to investigate the association between CU and SLE patients in Taiwan. A nationwide population‐based cohort study from 1997 to 2013 was conducted. Investigated subjects were selected from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database using the International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision code. Participants consisted of 13 845 subjects newly diagnosed with CU from 2003 to 2013. We estimated the incidence risk of SLE among patients with CU by time‐to‐event analysis. Patients with CU were more likely to be female, and had a significant difference in urbanization and length of hospital stays (P < 0.0001). The incidence rates of SLE for the CU and control groups were 3.55 and 1.68, respectively. The crude hazard ratio of SLE among subjects with CU was 2.113 compared with the non‐urticarial control group. After adjusting the demographic, length of hospital stay and comorbidity, the adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of SLE was still significantly higher in the CU group (aHR = 2.113) compared with the control group. The use of non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs or corticosteroids may decrease the risk of SLE in patients with CU (P = 0.0216 and 0.0120, respectively). In conclusion, CU is associated with a higher risk of incidental SLE in this population‐based, nationwide, cohort study. Inflammation and immune dysregulation are considered two potential mechanisms. Clinically, patients with urticaria should be carefully evaluated for risk of future SLE.

Risk of Urticaria in Children with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: A Nationwide Cohort Study

“…As confirmed by a literature review, our study is the first nationwide-cohort study that demonstrates an association between T1DM and urticaria in children. Furthermore, our data demonstrates that T1DM is a significant risk factor for urticaria, regardless of urbanization level, income, and presence of inflammatory bowel disease; factors that have also been reported to be related to urticaria [28,29] A similar association between T1DM and urticaria was not observed in adults in this study. This may be because we excluded those diagnosed with urticaria before enrollment into the study.…”

Effect of early eradication therapy on systemic lupus erythematosus risk in patients with Helicobacter pylori infection: a nationwide population-based cohort study

“…The SLE event was defined as diagnosis with ICD-9-CM code 710.0 (at least one hospital admission or three outpatient visits) and using HCQ within one year after diagnosis. 25–28 As a result, the data for the diagnosis of SLE should be accurate and reliable. However, the number of new SLE cases was rather small, despite the large number in both cohorts.…”

Risk of chronic spontaneous urticaria in reproductive‐aged women with abnormal uterine bleeding: A population‐based cohort study

“…This condition affects approximately one‐third of women during their lives and is the most common reason for reproductive‐aged women to seek medical care 12–14 . Previous studies have found the relationship between AUB with various immune‐mediated diseases 15–18 . Patients with AUB have also been reported to be associated with CSU.…”

“…[12][13][14] Previous studies have found the relationship between AUB with various immune-mediated diseases. [15][16][17][18] Patients with AUB have also been reported to be associated with CSU. However, the evidence is limited to either case reports or cross-sectional studies.…”