Work Disability in Newly Diagnosed Patients with Primary SjöGren’s Syndrome – a Population-Based Cohort Study

Thomas Mandl¹, Tanja Schjødt Jørgensen², Marie Skougaard Nielsen², Peter Olsson¹ and Lars Erik Kristensen³, ¹Dept of Rheumatology, Skane University Hospital Malmö, Lund University, Malmo, Sweden, ²The Parker Institute, Department of Rheumatology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, Denmark, ³The Parker Institute, Copenhagen University Hospital, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, Denmark

Meeting: 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

Date of first publication: September 28, 2016

Keywords: disability and work, Sjogren's syndrome, Work Disability

Session Information

Date: Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Session Title: Sjögren's Syndrome - Poster II: Clinical Science

Session Type: ACR Poster Session C

Session Time: 9:00AM-11:00AM

Background/Purpose: To study long-term work disability (WD) and possible predictors in newly diagnosed patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS).

Methods: 51 pSS patients (mean age 46 years, range 18-61 years, 50 females) diagnosed with pSS between January 2001 and December 2012 were included in the study. For each patient we randomly selected four reference subjects from the general population matched for age, sex and area of residence as controls. We linked data to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency and calculated the proportion as well as net days of WD in 30-day intervals from 12 months before pSS diagnosis until 24 months after.

Results: WD, consisting of sick leave (SL) and disability pension (DP), was increased in pSS patients in comparison to general population controls (GPC) (Fig 1A and B). Two years after pSS diagnosis the relative risk for overall WD was 2.10 (95% CI 1.34 to 3.30) in comparison with the general population. At diagnosis, 26% of patients were work disabled increasing to 37% and 41%, 12 and 24 months after diagnosis, respectively (p<0.05 and p<0.05 vs. baseline). Prior work disability status at pSS diagnosis (OR=15.4, 95% CI 2.9 to 81.9; p=0.001), concomitant fibromyalgia (OR=10.5, 95% CI 2.0 to 56.0; p=0.006), and each additional year of age (OR=1.1, 95% CI 1.0 to 1.2; p=0.009) were found to be associated with WD 24 months after diagnosis.

Conclusion: pSS patients showed an increased WD in comparison with the general population. Furthermore, WD in pSS patients increased significantly during the first two years after diagnosis, initially due to an increase in SL and subsequently to an increase in patients receiving a DP. WD at diagnosis, concomitant fibromyalgia and increasing age were associated with long-term work disability. Figure 1A. The prevalence of any degree of sick leave (SL) and disability pension (DP), for periods of 30 days for pSS patients and the general population controls (GPC) during the 12-month period before and 24-month period after pSS diagnosis. Figure 1B. The net amount of time (number of days out of 30-days periods) the pSS patients and the general population controls (GPC) were on sick leave (SL) and receiving disability pension (DP) during the 12-month period before and 24-month period after pSS diagnosis.

Disclosure: T. Mandl, None; T. S. Jørgensen, None; M. Skougaard Nielsen, None; P. Olsson, None; L. E. Kristensen, SSATG, 5.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Mandl T, Jørgensen TS, Skougaard Nielsen M, Olsson P, Kristensen LE. Work Disability in Newly Diagnosed Patients with Primary SjöGren’s Syndrome – a Population-Based Cohort Study [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2016; 68 (suppl 10). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/work-disability-in-newly-diagnosed-patients-with-primary-sjogrens-syndrome-a-population-based-cohort-study/. Accessed January 20, 2021.

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