Peripheral nervous system involvement in Sjogren's syndrome and its impact on quality of life

Sjogren's syndrome (SS) is a multisystem disorder of autoimmune etiology, which can be primary or secondary. Quality of life in SS depends on severity of involvement of different systems. The aims of this study are to analyze peripheral nervous system involvement in primary and secondary SS and its impact on quality of life (QOL). In this cross-sectional observational study conducted between January 2020 and June 2021, 67 patients of SS attending to this tertiary care center were included. Nerve conduction study and sympathetic skin response test were done in all cases. QOL was assessed with SF-36 questionnaire. Out of 67 cases, 50 had primary and 17 had secondary SS. 50.7% of cases had peripheral neuropathy. In primary SS, prevalence of peripheral neuropathy was 56% as against 35.3% in secondary. 50% of peripheral neuropathy were asymptomatic and were diagnosed after electrodiagnostic tests. Polyneuropathy was the most common pattern. There was no difference of other system involvement or immunological markers among those with and without peripheral neuropathy in either primary or secondary SS. Cases with peripheral neuropathy in the primary Sjogren's group and in the cohort as a whole scored significantly lower in 7 domains of SF-36. Peripheral nervous system involvement is common in Sjogren's syndrome, and most of them are asymptomatic. Peripheral neuropathy has significant impact on QOL in people with SS. Early detection and halting the progression of asymptomatic cases can be helpful in improving QOL.