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J Rheumatol. 2021 Oct 01; doi: 10.3899/jrheum.210742. Epub 2021 Oct 01.

The Interplay Between COVID-19 and Spondyloarthritis or Its Treatment.

The Journal of rheumatology

James T Rosenbaum, Michael H Weisman, Hedley Hamilton, Cassie Shafer, Elin Aslanyan, Richard A Howard, Kimberly Ogle, John D Reveille, Kevin L Winthrop, Dongseok Choi

Affiliations

  1. This work was supported by the Spondylitis Association of America and Any-3. The Spondylitis Association of America receives support from AbbVie for this project. AbbVie played no role in the study design, data interpretation, or writing of the results. JTR receives support from the Grandmaison Fund for Autoimmunity Research, the William and Mary Bauman Foundation, the Stan and Madelle Rosenfeld Family Trust, and Research to Prevent Blindness. J.T. Rosenbaum, MD, Departments of Medicine, Ophthalmology, and Cell Biology Oregon Health & Science University, and Legacy Devers Eye Institute, Portland, Oregon, USA; M.H. Weisman, MD, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA; H. Hamilton, BSc, Any-3, London, UK; C. Shafer, BS, E. Aslanyan, BA, R.A. Howard, BA, Spondylitis Association of America, Los Angeles, California, USA; K. Ogle, BA, Departments of Medicine, Ophthalmology, and Cell Biology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA; J.D. Reveille, MD, Department of Medicine, University of Texas, Houston, Texas, USA; K.L Winthrop, MD, MPH, D. Choi, PhD, OHSU-PSU School of Public Health and Departments of Medicine and Ophthalmology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA. JTR consults for AbbVie, Gilead, UCB, Novartis, Roche, Horizon, Santen, Eyevensys, Corvus, Affibody, Revolo, Roivant, and Neoleukin; receives royalties from UpToDate; and receives grant support from Pfizer and Horizon. JTR serves on a data monitoring committee for Celgene (BMS). HH owns Any-3, the website that hosted the survey and donated its services. RAH owns stock in AbbVie, Amgen, BMS, GSK, Johnson and Johnson, Lilly, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, and Teva. MHW consults for Novartis, UCB, Gilead, and GSK. JDR consults for UCB; and receives research support from Lilly and Janssen. KLW consults for Pfizer, AbbVie, UCB, Lilly, Galapagos, GSK, Roche, and Gilead; and receives research support from BMS and Pfizer. CS, EA, and RAH are employed by the Spondylitis Association of America. DC and KO report no conflicts of interest relevant to this article. Address correspondence to Dr. J.T. Rosenbaum, Departments of Medicine, Ophthalmology, and Cell Biology, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd., L467Ad Portland, OR 97239, USA. Email: [email protected]. Accepted for publication September 23, 2021.

PMID: 34599048 DOI: 10.3899/jrheum.210742

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created multiple uncertainties regarding rheumatic diseases or their treatment, with regard to the susceptibility to or severity of the viral disease. We aimed to address these questions as they relate to spondyloarthritis (SpA).

METHODS: We created a longitudinal survey from April 10, 2020, to April 26, 2021. There were 4723 subjects with SpA and 450 household contacts who participated worldwide. Of these, 3064 respondents were from the US and 70.4% of them provided longitudinal data. To control for the duration of potential risk of COVID-19, the rate of contracting the disease was normalized for person-months of exposure.

RESULTS: In an analysis of US subjects who provided longitudinal data, the incident rate ratio for the 159 (out of 2157) subjects who tested positive for COVID-19 was 1.16 compared to the US population as adjusted for age and sex (range 0.997-1.361,

CONCLUSION: These data do not exclude a small increased risk of developing COVID-19 as a result of SpA, but the risk, if it exists, is low and not consistently demonstrated. The data should provide reassurance to patients and to rheumatologists about the risk that COVID-19 poses to patients with SpA.

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