Evaluation of Quality Life of patients with pSS in Beijing

Backgrounds: Primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS) is a systemic autoimmune disease which has a greatly negative impact on patients'health and their living quality. Several studies showed that the quality of life in patients with SS is lower than the normal controls; however, the information on the quality life of Chinese pSS patient is limited. It is very useful to assess the physiology, psychology statue of patients with pSS in China. Objective:To investigate the quality of life of the patients with pSS in Beijing. Methods: 120 patients with pSS and 60 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. The Chinese version OF SF-36, WHOQOL-100 and xerostomia questionnaire were collected by face to face interview and measured. The data were analyzed by SPSS 14.0. Results:Compared to the healthy controls,the average scores in 8 parts including physical functions(PF), body pains(BP), general health(GH), vitality(VT), society functions(SF), mind health(MH), role of physiology(RP) and role of emotions(RE)showed significant difference between 2 groups ; the average scores in 7 of eight dimensions(physical dimensions, psychological dimensions, social relations, level of independence, spirit and overall dimensions)showed significant difference by WHOQOL-100,while the scores in environment dimensions didn't showed any different between 2 groups. There was a significant difference in speaking, swallowing, sleeping, symptoms of dry eyes as well as bad emotions induced by oral or teeth problems, showed by xerostomia questionnaire. Conclusion: The quality of life in patients with pSS is obviously lower than that of the healthy controls, Chinese version of SF-36 and WHOQOL-100 can be applied in evaluating the quality of life in patients with SS; xerostomia queationnaire could reflect the differences between patients with SS and the healthy controls, but its reliability and validity still need to be proved in large scale further.