Indications and risk factors for hospitalization in patients with primary Sjögren syndrome: experience from a tertiary center in Turkey

Objective In this study, it was aimed to reveal the hospitalization reasons for patients diagnosed with primary Sjögren syndrome (pSS) and potentially associated factors in a tertiary health center. Method One hundred and sixty-three pSS patients who regularly attended their follow-ups between January 2010 and May 2021 were included in the study. These patients’ reasons for hospitalization, duration of hospitalization, and numbers of presenting to the hospital were recorded. The demographic, clinical and serological characteristics of the hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients were compared. Results Hospitalization occurred in 22.7% of the patients, and the total number of hospitalizations was 79. The hospitalization incidence density rate was 6.21 per 100 patient-years. The most frequently encountered reason for hospitalizations was pSS-related organ involvement (44.3%). Infections (17.7%), malignancy (16.5%), endocrine, and various other reasons were the other indications for hospitalization. While male sex ( p = 0.005), the presence of extra-glandular involvement ( p