Mortality from systemic lupus erythematosus in England and Wales, 1974-1983.

Mortality rates from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in England and Wales were estimated from Office of Population Censuses and Surveys data from 1974 to 1983, by age and sex. Age-specific average annual mortality rates showed unimodal distributions for both sexes with maximal death rates in the 65-74-year age groups. The overall age-adjusted mortality rate for females was about four times that in males, 3.94 versus 1.02 per million person-years, respectively. Examination of individual age-specific rates showed an early sharp rise in females producing female-to-male ratios which exceeded 10 in the 25-34-year age group. Age-adjusted annual mortality rates in females significantly declined during the 10-year interval studied from 4.47 to 2.99 per million person-years (p = 0.0083). These patterns of mortality from SLE observed in England and Wales are comparable to those reported among Caucasians in the United States during a similar time period.