Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Oct;69(10):1612-1616.
doi: 10.1002/acr.23173. Epub 2017 Aug 31.

Prevalence of Primary Sjögren's Syndrome in a US Population-Based Cohort

Gabriel Maciel  1 , Cynthia S Crowson  2 , Eric L Matteson  2 , Divi Cornec  3
Affiliations

Prevalence of Primary Sjögren's Syndrome in a US Population-Based Cohort

Gabriel Maciel et al. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2017 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: To report the point prevalence of primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS) in the first US population-based study.

Methods: Cases of all potential primary SS patients living in Olmsted County, Minnesota, on January 1, 2015, were retrieved using Rochester Epidemiology Project resources, and ascertained by manual medical records review. Primary SS cases were defined according to physician diagnosis. The use of diagnostic tests was assessed and the performance of classification criteria was evaluated. The number of prevalent cases in 2015 was also projected based on 1976-2005 incidence data from the same source population.

Results: A total of 106 patients with primary SS were included in the study: 86% were female, with a mean ± SD age of 64.6 ± 15.2 years, and a mean ± SD disease duration of 10.5 ± 8.4 years. A majority were anti-SSA positive (75%) and/or anti-SSB positive (58%), but only 22% met American-European Consensus Group or American College of Rheumatology criteria, because the other tests required for disease classification (ocular dryness objective assessment, salivary gland functional or morphologic tests, or salivary gland biopsy) were rarely performed in clinical practice. According to the physician diagnosis, the age- and sex-adjusted prevalence of primary SS was 10.3 per 10,000 inhabitants, but according to classification criteria, this prevalence was only 2.2 per 10,000. The analysis based on previous incidence data projected a similar 2015 prevalence rate of 11.0 per 10,000.

Conclusion: The prevalence of primary SS in this geographically well-defined population was estimated to be between 2 and 10 per 10,000 inhabitants. Physicians rarely used tests included in the classification criteria to diagnose the disease in this community setting.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

References

    1. Vitali C, Bombardieri S, Jonsson R, Moutsopoulos HM, Alexander EL, Carsons SE, et al. Classification criteria for Sjogren’s syndrome: a revised version of the European criteria proposed by the American-European Consensus Group. Ann Rheum Dis. 2002;61(6):554–8. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shiboski SC, Shiboski CH, Criswell L, Baer A, Challacombe S, Lanfranchi H, et al. American College of Rheumatology classification criteria for Sjogren’s syndrome: a data-driven, expert consensus approach in the Sjogren’s International Collaborative Clinical Alliance cohort. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken) 2012;64(4):475–87. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cornec D, Chiche L. Is primary Sjogren’s syndrome an orphan disease? A critical appraisal of prevalence studies in Europe. Ann Rheum Dis. 2015;74(3):e25. - PubMed
    1. Qin B, Wang J, Yang Z, Yang M, Ma N, Huang F, et al. Epidemiology of primary Sjogren’s syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2015;74(11):1983–9. - PubMed
    1. Helmick CG, Felson DT, Lawrence RC, Gabriel S, Hirsch R, Kwoh CK, et al. Estimates of the prevalence of arthritis and other rheumatic conditions in the United States. Part I. Arthritis Rheum. 2008;58(1):15–25. - PubMed

Publication types