Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Feb 2;10(1):e003591.
doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2023-003591.

Estimated prevalence, incidence and healthcare costs of Sjögren's syndrome in France: a national claims-based study

Raphaele Seror  1 , Laurent Chiche  2 , Maxime Beydon  3 , Guillaume Desjeux  4 , Joe Zhuo  5 , Virginie Vannier-Moreau  6 , Valérie Devauchelle-Pensec  7
Affiliations

Estimated prevalence, incidence and healthcare costs of Sjögren's syndrome in France: a national claims-based study

Raphaele Seror et al. RMD Open. .

Abstract

Objectives: To estimate prevalence, incidence and mortality rates, and annual healthcare costs of primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) and SS associated with other autoimmune disorders (SS+AID) in France.

Methods: French national healthcare claims-based study within the prospective Système National des Données de Santé database that includes the majority of the French population. An algorithm was developed to identify patients with SS and SS-related healthcare claims were analysed between 2011 and 2018.

Results: Overall, 23 848 patients with pSS and 14 809 with SS+AID were identified. From 2011 to 2018, the prevalence rate increased slightly for pSS (23-32 per 100000) and SS+AID (16-20 per 100 000), with females comprising 90%-91% and 92%-93% of cases, respectively. The incidence rate of SS per 100 000 persons decreased from 2012 (pSS: 4.3; SS+AID: 2.0) to 2017 (pSS: 0.7; SS+AID: 0.3). Mortality rates per 100 000 persons increased from 2012 to 2018 in patients with pSS (0.2-0.8) or SS+AID (0.1-0.5); mean age of death also increased. Artificial tears and hydroxychloroquine were the most common drug reimbursements. Less than half of patients received annual specialist care from a dentist or ophthalmologist. Healthcare costs associated with SS increased from 2011 to 2018 and exceeded the national estimate of expected costs for chronic diseases.

Conclusion: In this large French population database study, the low prevalence of pSS confirms that it is an orphan disease. SS is clinically and economically burdensome; these findings may help clinicians better understand routine healthcare received by patients.

Keywords: Sjogren's syndrome; autoimmune diseases; epidemiology; prevalence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: RS is a consultant for Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Fresenius Kabi, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Pfizer and Roche. LC is a consultant for Bristol Myers Squibb. GD is a consultant for Bristol Myers Squibb and a consultant with no fees for Roche. JZ and VV-M are employees of and shareholders in Bristol Myers Squibb. VD-P is a consultant for AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb and Novartis, and has received grant/research support from Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Roche-Chugai. MB declares no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Origin of ICD-10 code M35.0 (sicca (Sjögren’s) syndrome) for patients with pSS and SS+AID. †Day care hospital stays were defined as hospital stays for diagnosis/therapeutic procedures not requiring overnight stay (<1 day). ‡Other types of hospitalisations include home (patient hospitalised at home with support from the hospital team), psychiatric and rehabilitation hospitalisations. ICD-10, International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision; pSS, primary Sjögren’s syndrome; SS+AID, Sjögren’s syndrome associated with other autoimmune disorders. Figure reproduced from Seror R, et al. EULAR Congress 2021; 2–5 June; POS0024 (with permission from the authors).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Estimated (A) prevalence and (B) incidence of pSS and SS+AID per year from 2011 to 2018 in the French population of the national healthcare database. pSS, primary Sjögren’s syndrome; SS+AID, Sjögren’s syndrome associated with other autoimmune disorders. Figure adapted from Seror R, et al. EULAR Congress 2021; 2–5 June; POS0024 (with permission from the authors).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean annual healthcare costs for pSS and SS+AID by year (2011–2018). pSS, primary Sjögren’s syndrome; SS+AID, Sjögren’s syndrome associated with other autoimmune disorders. Figure reproduced from Seror R, et al. EULAR Congress 2021; 2–5 June; POS0024 (with permission from the authors).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Beydon M, McCoy S, Nguyen Y, et al. . Epidemiology of Sjögren syndrome. Nat Rev Rheumatol 2023. 10.1038/s41584-023-01057-6 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mariette X, Criswell LA. Primary Sjogren’s syndrome. N Engl J Med 2018;378:931–9. 10.1056/NEJMcp1702514 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Maldini C, Seror R, Fain O, et al. . Epidemiology of primary Sjogren’s syndrome in a French Multiracial/Multiethnic area. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken) 2014;66:454–63. 10.1002/acr.22115 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Negrini S, Emmi G, Greco M, et al. . Sjogren’s syndrome: a systemic autoimmune disease. Clin Exp Med 2022;22:9–25. 10.1007/s10238-021-00728-6 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Milin M, Cornec D, Chastaing M, et al. . Sicca symptoms are associated with similar fatigue, anxiety, depression, and quality-of-life impairments in patients with and without primary Sjogren’s syndrome. Joint Bone Spine 2016;83:681–5. 10.1016/j.jbspin.2015.10.005 - DOI - PubMed
-