Sicca symptoms, and lacrimal and salivary flow in Albanian patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis affects primarily the synovial joints, but is often accompanied by extra-articular manifestations, including lacrimal and salivary gland involvement. The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of ocular and oral sicca symptoms and reduced lacrimal and salivary flow in rheumatoid arthritis and the relation between sicca symptoms and objective measures of lacrimal and salivary flow. Methods: We examined 88 consecutive hospitalized patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 88 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. The examination included the standardized questionnaire for keratoconjunctivitis sicca and xerostomia which forms part of the European criteria for Sjogren's syndrome, the Schirmer's I test and measurement of unstimulated whole salivary flow rate. Results: A significantly higher proportion of patients (40.9%) reported ocular sicca symptoms than healthy matched controls (8.0%). Further, a significantly higher proportion of patients (44.3%) reported oral sicca symptoms compared to controls (13.6%). 48.9% of the patients had low Schirmer I score, compared to 20.5% of controls. Reduced salivary flow was found in 27.3% of patients, compared to 9.1% of controls. The differences in lacrimal and salivary flow between patient and control group were statistically significant. The minimum prevalence of secondary Sjogren's syndrome was 14.8%. Weak association was observed between sicca symptoms and the objective measures of lacrimal and salivary flow in patients, and no association was detected in control subjects. Conclusions: Sicca symptoms and reduced lacrimal and salivary flow were common manifestations in rheumatoid arthritis and should be given adequate consideration during management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.