Half of healthcare providers believe patients with lupus aren’t receiving the right level of care since COVID-19 hit, according to a survey released by GSK Tuesday.

The survey, which aimed to examine organ damage prevention in lupus, found that 44% of HCPs believed that the pandemic was a major barrier to people getting the best care to prevent organ damage from the disease.

Some 200,000 people in the U.S. suffer from lupus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While the disease includes symptoms like muscle and joint pain, fever, rashes and kidney problems, it can also cause organ damage to the heart. Organ damage affects nearly half of people with the disease.

Nearly 80% of doctors surveyed — including some 648 rheumatologists, nephrologists and internal medicine specialists – said they hoped to find more effective ways to monitor the disease in their patients. A similar number of respondents said they wanted to have better approaches to figure out which patients have the highest risk of organ damage.

Still, 46% of HCPs said they only talk about organ damage with their patients once they’re already experiencing organ damage. Nearly two-thirds admitted to waiting more than a year following diagnosis before discussing organ damage risks with patients – even though the problems often start within the first five years of diagnosis. 

That was further exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, which delayed diagnoses and care.

“These survey results underscore the critical need for improved tools and guidelines,” Rajeev Raghavan, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Houston, said in a statement. “It’s also important that we, as treating physicians, educate our lupus patients about the risk of organ damage at the time of diagnosis.”

Raghavan added it’s important to “work together to create a long-term disease management plan that actively reduces organ damage risk.”

The majority of HCPs surveyed noted that data demonstrating the benefits of therapies for lupus-related organ damage would be helpful.

It’s not surprising that GSK chose to dig into this topic, given the drugmaker has a drug, Benlysta, on the market to treat the disease. The Food and Drug Administration approved Benlysta 10 years ago.

The survey comes one year after AstraZeneca also got a lupus drug, Saphnelo, FDA-approved. Saphnelo proved to be GSK’s first major competitor in the lupus market, which had largely been left to Benlysta for a decade.

Subsequently, AstraZeneca rolled out its ‘Here for More’ ad campaign for Saphnelo this year, focusing on women of color, who are more likely to be diagnosed with lupus.