Abstract
Purpose: :
To compare the prevalence of fibromyalgia in Sjogren's syndrome (SS) and severe dry eye (DE) patients.
Methods: :
A retrospectice chart review was carried out on all patients seen at the Sjogren's syndrome clinic since 1994. Those patients who met the American–European criteria for primary SS and those with symptoms and signs of severe dry eye (DE) without an autoimmune diagnosis were included in the analysis. Fibromyalgia was diagnosed by a rheumatologist using the American College of Rheumatology 1990 criteria for fibromyalgia that includes 11 of 18 tender points. The prevalence of fibromyalgia in these two groups was compared using a chi– square test.
Results: :
One hundred and eighty–seven (187) SS patients and 90 DE patients were included in the analysis. Twenty–seven (27) or 14.4% of the SS patients and 8 or 8.9% of the DE patients met the criteria for fibromyalgia. The difference in the prevelance of fibromyalgia in these two groups was not statistically significant (p=0.1929).
Conclusions: :
There was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of fibromyalgia in this population of Sjogren's syndrome and severe dry eye patients.
Keywords: autoimmune disease • lacrimal gland • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence