Abstract / Description
ObjectiveSjögren's disease (SjD) is a chronic autoimmune disease with a complex etiology, where pathogens may influence disease development or progression. Although SjD is not communicable, environmental and endemic pathogen exposures may influence its onset or progression. This study assessed the prevalence and patterns of infectious diseases (IDs) in SjD compared to sicca symptom and autoimmune disease controls.MethodsThis retrospective, cross-sectional study utilized 2015 to 2023 data from the University of Utah UHealth, analyzing 3,826 patients with SjD and age- and sex-matched controls. ID diagnoses were classified using International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes, and odds ratios (ORs) were calculated to identify significant differences in ID prevalence between cases and control cohorts. Unique infections, reinfections, and temporal analyses were performed. Hierarchical cluster analysis identified common and unique patterns of ID diagnoses across different patient groups.ResultsPatients with SjD had an average of 5.30 ± 8.00 unique ID diagnoses compared to 4.86 ± 6.15 in controls (P