The relationship between clinical features and disease activity in patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome

Abstract

Objectives: To examine the relationship between clinical features and disease activity in patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) evaluated by ESSPRI (EULAR Sjögren’s Syndrome Patient Reported Index) and ESSDAI (EULAR Sjögren’s Syndrome Disease Activity Index).
Patients and Methods: Clinical data of 74 patients with pSS (60.7±12.6 years old) who visited our hospital between Aug. 2010 and Dec. 2014 were collected from medical charts.
Results: All patients were women. Average age ±SD at visit and at onset were 60.7±12.6 and 48.0±13.7 years old, respectively. ESSPRI and ESSDAI were assessed in 72 and 70 patients, and the median score of them were 4.3 and 3.0, respectively. Corticosteroids users were 60.8% and average dose (prednisolone equivalent) was 3.1±2.1 mg/day. Number of patients with low (ESSDAI < 5), moderate (5 ~ 13), and high disease activity (≧14) were 45, 19, and 6, receptivity. Corticosteroids were used in all patients with high disease activity and its dose (6.3 mg/day) was significantly higher than that in patients with moderate or low disease activity (2.7 mg/day each). Patients with onset age at less than 40 (younger onset) had significantly high ESSDAI score (median 7.0) compared with 40 or over (median 2.0), and there was a marked difference in its domain of lymphadenopathy. There was no difference of ESSPRI between the two groups; however, its item of fatigue score was significantly higher in younger onset patients.
Conclusions: Younger onset pSS patients had higher disease activity, and severity of fatigue and lymphadenopathy were the clinical characteristics.