British Society of Rheumatology launches new guideline for Sjögren disease

Article written by Lindsay Turner, Clinical Guidelines Programme Manager, British Society for Rheumatology 

Sjögren disease is an autoimmune condition. This means that the immune system, which is the body’s natural self-defence system, gets confused and starts to attack your body’s healthy tissues.

Sjögren disease is also a long-term condition and affects multiple parts of the body. Because of this, it's important to take a comprehensive approach and personalise care for each person.

The British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) has updated their guidelines to support non-specialists treat Sjögren disease (SD) across people of all ages.  

Dr Elizabeth Price, who led the guideline development, said: “Very often the little things haven’t been done well.

"There may be a diagnosis of Sjögren, a prescription for [a medicine called] hydroxychloroquine, and then little more. But it’s so important to think about managing their eye disease, their mouth disease, their dryness, vaginal dryness and so on.

This is the first time a guideline has looked at how we can better treat Sjögren disease (SD) across people of all ages.

Coziana Ciurtin, consultant in adult and adolescent rheumatology, said: “We recognise the need to incorporate recommendations for an under-diagnosed disease phenotype that starts in younger patients, who present slightly differently and may have different needs. We aim to support all clinicians and allied health professionals in diagnosing and looking after these younger patients.”  

Bridget Crampton is Sjogren’s UK helpline team leader and was one of the patient representatives in the guideline working group. She explained what the updated guidance will mean for patients.

“Sjögren disease has such a profound impact on quality of life for patients. It is vital to have this guidance fully up to date so that diagnosis and treatment can be informed by the latest evidence and to help patients, their families and carers to access relevant, age-tailored information, education and support.” 

The complete guideline also comes with a handy one-page summary that you can download and print.

It's designed so you can easily access and reference the latest evidence-based advice on treatment, management, and important lifestyle factors.

The guideline was developed by members from rheumatology, with adult, adolescent and paediatric specialists, as well as a wider working group made up of:

• GPs.
• occupational therapy specialists.
• eye (ophthalmology) and kidney (renal) specialists.
• experts with lived experience of Sjögren disease.

The guideline is available now for free on the BSR website.  

Hosted by Dr Marwan Bukhari, you can also watch Liz Price, Coziana Ciurtin, and expert by experience, Bridget Crampton, talk about the new guideline in the latest episode of the Rheumatology Roundtable. 

* The British Society Rheumatology guideline working group discussed the term that should be used for this guideline and after much consideration opted to use “Sjögren disease”. This was based on the experience of the working group members who had received anecdotal feedback from people with SD for a preference to move away from the word “syndrome” and any negative connotations this may be linked with.