Black People Eight Times More Likely To Be Hospitalised With Lupus In England

Black people are eight times more likely than white people to be admitted to hospital with lupus, NHS figures show, with experts saying the "stark" inequality could be a result of delayed diagnoses.

- Tobi Thomas

The hospital admission rate in England for black patients with a primary diagnosis of lupus was 62.6 per 100,000 people in 2023-24, while there were 7.8 admissions for every 100,000 white people. Asian patients also had a higher rate of hospitalisation, with 26 admissions per 100,000.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), commonly referred to as lupus, is a chronic autoimmune disease that develops when the immune system attacks the body's healthy tissues and organs. Its symptoms include extreme fatigue, anaemia and major organ failure.

The overall number of people with lupus being treated in hospital has risen by almost 50% over four years, from 6,334 admissions in 2019-20, to 8,006 in 2023-24. The data refers to finished admission episodes where lupus was the primary diagnosis.

About one in 1,000 people in Britain have lupus, 90% of them women, with people from minority ethnic backgrounds at disproportionate risk of the disease. However, this increased risk is not enough to justify the disparity in the hospital admission rates, several academics say.

Angela Davison, at the Lupus Trust, said the disparity may be because of late diagnoses, which led to more severe symptoms.