The following is a summary of “One-year infection risk among patients diagnosed with giant cell arteritis: use of antibiotics and hospitalizations,” published in the February 2024 issue of Rheumatology by Therkildsen et al.
Studies in giant cell arteritis (GCA) mainly address infection management by primary care providers, with hospitalization being infrequent and there is limited understanding of antibiotic prescription patterns.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study investigating the one-year cumulative infection risk in individuals diagnosed with GCA.
They conducted a nationwide observational cohort study comprising individuals aged >50 years diagnosed with GCA for the first time, identified from the Danish National Patient Registry spanning (1996 to 2022). Patients with GCA were matched in a 1:10 based on sex and date of birth with individuals from the general population, and the follow-up period commenced from the date of GCA diagnosis. Infections were defined as either redeemed antibiotic prescriptions or hospitalizations due to infection. Using a pseudo-observation approach, the researchers evaluated the one-year cumulative incidence proportions (CIP), risk differences (RD), and relative risks (RR) associated with infections.
The results showed that among the 17,773 incident GCA patients and 177,730 reference individuals, GCA patients had a 1-year CIP of 52.4% (95% CI: 51.7–53.2) for overall infections and 17.6% (95% CI: 17.1–18.2) for infection-related hospitalizations. Compared to the reference cohort, GCA patients had a RR of 1.40 (95% CI: 1.38–1.42) for overall infections and 2.71 (95% CI: 2.61–2.82) for infection-related hospitalizations. Furthermore, increased cumulative glucocorticoid doses, older age (≥70 years), and greater comorbidity were associated with a heightened risk of infections among GCA patients.
Investigators concluded that patients with GCA are significantly more likely to need antibiotics and face infection-related hospitalizations due to increased susceptibility to glucocorticoid treatment.
Source: academic.oup.com/rheumatology/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/rheumatology/keae107/7606351