| Abstract | Quality of life is an essential component of the way Sjögren's syndrome should be evaluated, indicating that management of such patients as not a simple task one would think, but the life that the patient leads, and the quality of it must be engaged as a whole.
Sjögren's syndrome is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune illness, slowly progressing and targeting the bodies exocrine glands. Ranging from xerophthalmia and xerostomia to more systemic and severe manifestations, Sjögren's syndrome may also co-exist with other diseases of autoimmune origin and also progress to more malignant scenarios. Somewhat subtle presentation leads to delays in all aspects, causing severe impairment of the life that this individual leads, both physically and mentally. Diagnosis remains one of the major difficulties, as it overlaps with other autoimmune diseases, making diagnosis usually a long and tedious process, burdening the patient and impairing their quality of life. The health related quality of life is a multifactorial assessment, and can be evaluated using different models to assess mental and physical well being, such as the Short-Form Health Survey questionnaire 36 (SF 36) and other patient centered questionnaires. The therapeutic management includes the separation into glandular and systemic manifestations and their respective treatment modalities. Symptomatic therapy dominates for the glandular manifestations, including replacement and stimulation of fluids, while various disease modifying drugs are used for these systemic or extraglandular manifestations. Impaired function is associated with reduced quality of life and symptoms such as pain, fatigue, and depression, as well as disease activity, illustrating the importance of optimal management of all aspects of the disease. |
