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Graft-versus-host Disease

Sicca symptoms and their impact on quality of life among very long-term survivors after hematopoietic SCT

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 48, pages 988–993 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

The objective of this prospective cross-sectional case-control study was to examine the prevalence of dryness symptoms and its impact on quality of life (QoL) among very long-term survivors after hematopoietic SCT (HSCT) in comparison with their respective sibling donors. Forty-four allogeneic HSCT recipients with a long-term survival (median: 17.5; range: 11–26 years) were included. Their respective, HLA-identical sibling donors served as controls. Clinical examinations included saliva flow rates (SFR) and the Schirmer's test. The presence of sicca symptoms of mouth, eyes and skin were inquired. The social functioning (SF)-36 questionnaire was applied. Recipients had lower (P<0.01) unstimulated and stimulated mean SFR than donors. Schirmer’s test results <5 mm was found in 45% of the recipients in comparison with 27% of the donors (P=0.07). Xerostomia (34 vs 4 subjects), xerophtalmia (23 vs 3) and dry skin (32 vs 12) were reported more often by the recipients than donors (P<0.001). Sicca symptoms and their objective findings correlated with QoL. The mean SF-36 scores of the donors were significantly higher than those of the recipients for physical component summary. In conclusion, sicca symptoms are common amongst long-term survivors of HSCT and affect remarkably the QoL.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Nr 3200B0-118176), the Horten Foundation and the Werner Geissberger Foundation.

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  1. T Daikeler and M Mauramo: These authors contributed equally to this manuscript.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rheumatology, University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

    T Daikeler & A Tyndall

  2. Institute of Preventive Dentistry and Oral Microbiology, School of Dental Medicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    M Mauramo & T Waltimo

  3. Division of Hematology, University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

    A Rovó, M Stern, J Halter, A Buser, A Gratwohl & A Tichelli

  4. Division of Dermatology, University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

    P Häusermann

  5. Department of Oral Medicine, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC, USA

    M T Brennan

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Daikeler, T., Mauramo, M., Rovó, A. et al. Sicca symptoms and their impact on quality of life among very long-term survivors after hematopoietic SCT. Bone Marrow Transplant 48, 988–993 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2012.260

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