Table 1

Demographics of cases and controls

pSS cases invited to questionnairepSS cases returning the questionnairepSS cases returning the questionnaire and matched to controlsMatched controls
No. of individuals8156065304425
 % Females93939389
Age at index date (years)
 Median (IQR)53 (42–61)54 (41–61)54 (43–61)54 (42–62)
 ≤2425 (3%)14 (2%)13 (2%)117 (3%)
 25–39137 (17%)114 (19%)93 (18%)795 (18%)
 40–54272 (33%)197 (33%)169 (32%)1360 (31%)
 55–64222 (27%)184 (30%)173 (33%)1437 (32%)
 ≥65137 (17%)95 (16%)82 (15%)716 (16%)
Calendar year at index date
 1980–19857 (1%)6 (1%)0 (0%)0 (0%)
 1985–199037 (5%)23 (4%)0 (0%)0 (0%)
 1990–199559 (7%)42 (7%)13 (2%)0 (0%)
 1995–2000131 (16%)97 (16%)94 (18%)506 (11%)
 2000–2005144 (18%)112 (18%)110 (21%)857 (19%)
 2005–2010196 (24%)161 (27%)156 (29%)1809 (41%)
 2010–2015214 (26%)159 (26%)154 (29%)1253 (28%)
 2015–20203 (0%)3 (0%)3 (1%)0 (0%)
Area of residence
 Bigger cities and Southern Sweden609 (75%)452 (75%)406 (77%)3 763 (85%)
 Middle Sweden194 (24%)143 (24%)115 (22%)583 (13%)
 Northern Sweden12 (1%)11 (2%)9 (2%)79 (2%)
Highest attained education
 Primary education (≤9 years)134 (22%)114 (22%)1 053 (24%)
 Secondary education (10– 12 years)193 (32%)172 (32%)1 601 (36%)
 Higher education274 (45%)241 (45%)1 764 (40%)
SSA and SSB status at the date of pSS diagnosis
 SSA positive563 (69%)418 (69%)363 (68%)
 SSB positive367 (45%)269 (44%)230 (43%)
 SSA and/or SSB positive578 (71%)430 (71%)375 (71%)
No. of years between pSS diagnosis and questionnaire response date
 Median (IQR)12 (7–19)11 (7–18)10 (7–16)
No. of individuals with HLA data409 (67%)363 (68%)2097 (47%)
  • HLA, human leucocyte antigen; pSS, primary Sjögren’s syndrome; SSA, Ro/SSA autoantibodies; SSB, La/SSB autoantibodies.