Comorbidity and healthcare utilisation in persons with incident systemic lupus erythematosus followed for 3 years after diagnosis: analysis of a claims data cohort.

Comorbidities are frequently detected at the time of diagnosis of SLE. High numbers of drug prescriptions and hospitalisation following SLE diagnosis reflect the comprehensive disease burden. The comparison with incident diabetes shows that differences with controls without autoimmune disease are overestimated by detection bias.