The effects of current poverty, “dose” of poverty, and exiting poverty suggest that poverty plays a critical role in the accumulation of damage in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), according to a recent study. 783 patients with SLE were followed up from 2003 to 2015 through annual structured interviews. Respondents were categorized in each year by whether they had a household income of ≤125% of the US federal poverty level. Researchers found:

• After adjustment for sociodemographic features, health care characteristics, and health behaviors, poverty in 2009 was associated with an increased level of accumulated disease damage in 2015 and increased odds of a clinically important increase in damage.
• Being poor in every year between 2003 and 2009 was associated with greater damage than being poor for ≥one-half of those years, for <one-half of those years, or for none of those years.
• Those exiting poverty permanently had similar increases in disease damage as those who were never in poverty but much less damage than those who remained in poverty.