Sjögren disease patients at increased risk of death

Patients with Sjögren disease (SD) are at heightened risk of mortality from infections, malignancies, and cardiovascular disease (CVD), reveals a study.

A 70-percent increased mortality risk was observed among SD patients in comparison to the general population, with a standard mortality ratio of 1.7. The most common cause of death was infections (35.7 percent), followed by malignancies (23.8 percent) and CVD (7.1 percent).

In multivariate analysis, older age (hazard ratio [HR], 1.11, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.07‒1.15), C4 hypocomplementemia (HR, 3.75, 95 percent CI, 1.55‒9.06), elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR; HR, 1.01, 95 percent CI, 1.00‒1.03), history of heart failure (HR, 4.24, 95 percent CI, 1.02‒17.58), and pulmonary involvement (HR, 3.31, 95 percent CI, 1.39‒7.88) independently correlated with mortality.

“Independent predictors of mortality include advanced age, C4 hypocomplementemia, elevated ESR, heart failure, and pulmonary involvement, underscoring the need for proactive, individualized management,” the researchers said.

This study analysed 314 SD patients from a prospective, multicentre SjögrenSER Prospective cohort. The researchers obtained data on systemic manifestations, serological markers, disease activity, and mortality after a median of 9.5 years of follow-up.

Overall mortality was the primary outcome. Secondary analyses were conducted using Cox proportional hazard models to identify the independent predictors of mortality. The research team also calculated the standardized mortality ratios by comparing the observed deaths in the SD cohort with the expected deaths in an age- and sex-matched general population.