• S T Valtýsdóttir, B Gudbjörnsson, R Hällgren, and J Hetta.
• Department of Medical Sciences-Rheumatology, University Hospital Uppsala, Sweden. sigridur.valtysdottir@medicin.uu.se
• Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2000 Sep 1; 18 (5): 597-600.

ObjectivesTo evaluate quality of life and psychological symptoms in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome and to compare this with patients with rheumatoid arthritis.MethodsA standardised questionnaire, the Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWB), was used to examine the quality of life and psychological symptoms in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS; n = 34). Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA; n = 32) were used as patient controls.ResultsThe total mean score +/- SD for PGWB was 84.9 +/- 16.2 in pSS patients and significantly lower (p = 0.001) than in RA patients (97.7 +/- 17.5). Patients with pSS had an increased propensity for depressed mood (p = 0.0009), and suffered from reduced well-being (p = 0.002) and impaired vitality (p = 0.003).ConclusionThe results suggest that patients with pSS have a reduced quality of life, a higher degree of distress and a lower sense of well-being than patients with RA.

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