Abstract
We examined whether decreased salivary secretion in patients with Sjögren's syndrome (SS) would be associated with their mental health. We also administered salivary secretion-promoting agents to patients with SS accompanied by decreased salivary secretion and examined whether increased salivary secretion improved their mental health. The subjects were 54 patients with SS who received cevimeline hydrochloride hydrate for 52 weeks. Mental health condition was evaluated on the basis of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) 30 score; a GHQ score of ≥7 was determined as neurosis. Subjective symptom scores and GHQ scores were measured before starting the medication and every 3 months subsequently. Of 54 patients, 36 (66.7%) were considered to have neurosis. No correlation was observed among GHQ30 scores, salivary secretion, and subjective symptom scores in patients with SS. However, among patients with neurosis, a significant correlation was observed between the improvement rate of GHQ30 scores before and after beginning the medication and the increase in salivary secretion in 7 patients who responded to cevimeline hydrochloride hydrate administration (R = 0.702, P = 0.036). These results indicated that a high proportion of patients with SS have neurosis, but it was not apparent whether decreased salivary secretion was a causative factor. However, the results suggested that it might be possible to improve mental health conditions when salivary secretion is sufficiently increased in patients with SS who also have neurosis.
