Gamze DILEK, Mehtap KALÇIK UNAN, Seyyid Bilal AÇIKGÖZ, Tamer ACAT, Nilay ERDIK, Sümeyye Merve TÜRK, Damla KARATAŞ, Cansu ARSLANTÜRK GÜNEYSU, Gökhan YAVUZBILGE, Sedat ÖZMEN, Abbas KARAKURT, Emel GÖNÜLLÜ
Northwestern Medical Journal - 2026;6(2):144-148
Objectives: In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between the age of onset of disease symptoms, the age at diagnosis, and cognitive function in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS). Methods: Sixty-two patients diagnosed with pSS who presented to the Sakarya Training and Research Hospital Internal Medicine Rheumatology outpatient clinic between November 2021 and November 2022 were included in the study. Parameters such as age at diagnosis, age at symptom onset, fibromyalgia status, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score, Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) score, insomnia, fatigue, learning disability, and number of comorbidities were recorded. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score was used to evaluate cognitive function. The scale ranges from 0 to 30, with a threshold value set at 21. Scores of 21 and above were considered normal. Independent samples t-tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, and chi-square tests were used for data comparison. Results: Patients with MoCA values less than 21 were significantly older. In the study, the age at symptom onset for patients with a MoCA score<21 was significantly higher than for those with a MoCA score >= 21 (p<0.05). Similarly, the age at diagnosis for patients with MoC<A values<21 was significantly higher than for those with MoCA values >= 21 (p<0.05). The impaired group (MoCA<21) comprised 20 individuals, representing 32.2%+/-3% of the cohort, while the non-impaired group consisted of 42 individuals, accounting for 67.7%+/-4% of the patients (p<0.001).
