Higher Disease Burden Associated With Sjögren Syndrome and RA
Sjögren syndrome (SS) may be a marker of more aggressive joint disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In findings, published online in Clinical Rheumatology, researchers reported that patients with RA and SS had a higher disease burden than those with RA alone; a higher prevalence of SS was observed as RA disease duration increased.
The study included patients aged 18 years and older with rheumatologist-diagnosed RA enrolled in the Corrona RA registry between April 22, 2010 and February 28, 2018. Study outcomes included unadjusted prevalence of SS in patients with RA, prevalence of SS by RA disease duration, and baseline characteristics in patients with RA by SS status.
Of the 24,528 eligible patients, 32.1% of patients had a diagnosis of RA and SS (n=7870).
The prevalence of RA with SS was 30%, which is higher than that previously reported in the United States (10.3%), according to researchers. The SS rate increased with RA disease duration from 14.4% in patients (disease duration of 0 to 1 years) to 38.8% (disease duration >10 years). Comparisons of baseline characteristics of patients with RA with SS and those with RA only, showed that patients were older (62.5 vs 59.2 years), more likely to be female (84.4% vs 73.8%), and had longer disease duration (13.6 vs 9.5 years). Additionally, RA with SS was associated with seropositivity; erosive RA; more health-related difficulties such as pain and anxiety; and a higher incidence of comorbidities (hypertension, cardiovascular disease, malignancies, and serious infections).
“Identifying specific characteristics of patients with RA with SS may help clinicians to better understand this patient population and the extra-articular manifestations of RA,” concluded the researchers. “Additional studies are warranted to further understand the full burden of SS in patients with RA and its impact on clinical and patient-reported outcomes.” —Eileen Koutnik-Fotopoulos
Reference
Harrold LR, Shan Y, Rebello S, et al. Prevalence of Sjögren’s syndrome associated with rheumatoid arthritis in the USA: an observational study from the Corrona registry [published online March 4, 2020]. Clin Rheumatol. doi:10.1007/s10067-020-05004-8
