Quality of life in patients with Sjögren’s syndrome and sicca complex

Abstract

To investigate the general and oral quality of life in patients with Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and sicca complex. Forty-four patients with SS were studied consecutively, 33 were primary SS and 11 secondary SS, classified in accordance with the Vitali European criteria. The Spanish version of the Medical Outcome Short Form (36) Health Survey questionnaire (SF-36) was used to evaluate general quality of life and the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-49) Spanish version to study oral quality of life. Regarding general quality of life using the SF-36, when comparing the SS and the control groups, lower scores were obtained in the SS groups in all domains and on comparing primary and secondary SS, lower scores were found for primary SS in all the subscales. With respect to oral quality of life using the OHIP-49 (all items), we found lower scores for the primary SS group with respect to the control group. Patients with primary SS present lower scores for both oral and general quality of life.