Recognition and control of hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients have a high risk for cardiovascular events, but few studies have evaluated the recognition and none have evaluated the control of cardiovascular risk factors (RF) in SLE patients. The study aims to describe the recognition and control frequencies of systemic arterial hypertension (SAH), dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus (DM) in SLE patients. Of the female patients with SLE, 137 answered a questionnaire focused on general knowledge of the RF for coronary artery disease (CAD) and on recognition of the risk factors that they possess. The patient’s information collected on a structured medical record was reviewed to evaluate the RF control. The mean age was 29.1 (9.6) years. Seventy patients had SAH; 85.7% recognized their condition and 71.4% had desirable blood pressure (BP) control (< 140 × 90 mmHg). From a group of 63 patients with dyslipidemia, 68.3% recognized that they had dyslipidemia and 69.8% had desirable LDL-cholesterol (< 130 mg/dL). Sixteen patients had DM; 87.5% admitted being diabetic and 50.0% had desirable glycemic control (HbA1C < 7%). Most patients were aware of presenting SAH, DM, or dyslipidemia, and the recognition frequency was higher in comparison to general population. The SAH and dyslipidemia control frequencies were higher than that described for the general population.