Primary Sjögren's Syndrome

The chronic inflammatory pain condition primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) causes dry mouth and eyes, pain and fatigue, and depression and anxiety. A study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine reports on the health related quality of life (HRQoL) cost for people in the United Kingdom with pSS. Researchers looked at a combination of the age/sex of the patient, comorbidity and polypharmacy scores, along with various tools and indexes to determine the overall impact on quality of life. As there is no effective treatment, the impact is substantial.

Interestingly, “Patients were involved in the planning and conduct of this research and have identified priority areas for pSS research that are most relevant to their experience of the disease, which include fatigue and general well-being. Patient partner representatives are included in the project steering committee.” The study of 377 people concluded that “patients have significantly lower health utility values compared to the UK general population,” “the median EuroQoL-5 dimension utility value in this cohort is lower than the UK population norm for this age group,” and “in a small proportion of the cohort, HRQoL declines significantly in a relatively short time frame.” The EQ-5D estimates HRQoL on mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression.

 

Read the journal article.

Other Categories:

• chronic pain

• depression

• inflammation