Psychosis is an infrequent manifestation of neuropsychiatric (NP) events in persons with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), according to a recent study. Generally, it occurs early after SLE onset and has a significant negative impact on health status. Patients were evaluated annually for 19 NP events including psychosis. SLE disease activity 2000, Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology (SLICC/ACR) damage index, and 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF‐36) scores were collected. Researchers found:

• Of 1,826 SLE patients, 88.8% were female, 48.8% Caucasian; mean±SD age was 35.1±13.3 years, disease duration 5.6±4.2 months and follow‐up 7.4±4.5 years.
• There were 31 psychotic events in 28/1,826 (1.53%) patients and most (26/28; 93%) had a single event.
• In the majority of patients (20/25; 80%) and events (28/31; 90%), psychosis was attributed to SLE, usually within 3 years of SLE diagnosis.
• Positive associations with lupus psychosis were prior SLE NP events, male sex, younger age at SLE diagnosis (per 10 years younger), and African ancestry.
• By physician assessment most psychotic events resolved by the second annual visit following onset, in parallel with an improvement in patient reported SF‐36 summary and subscale scores.