Large cohorts with diverse ethnic backgrounds and heterogenous clinical features have provided the real-life data about the safety and efficacy of various treatment regimens for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). There are multiple well-established regional, national, and international lupus cohorts that have made significant contributions to the understanding of SLE. Using social media for cohort-based studies can significantly increase the outreach in a short time period for studying rare diseases such as SLE. Lack of strict inclusion criteria allows study of a broad range of patients but selection bias and incomplete data are possible in long-term cohort studies.
Keywords: Cohort; Database; Lupus; Registry.
Published by Elsevier Inc.