Opportunity to tailor practice and research
During the question-and-answer period following the presentation, Gabriela Hernandez-Molina, MD, of the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán in Mexico City, commented that “fatigue and pain might be also attributed to other comorbidities in these patients such as fibromyalgia,” and asked Dr. McCoy to comment on that.
“That’s exactly what we’re driving at,” Dr. McCoy replied. “Fatigue and pain frequently affect how patients experience their disease, and it would be beneficial to take this into account when we evaluate patients, and also for the studies that we’re performing, as well as future ‘-omic’ studies – transcriptomics and what-not – there’s potential here to take that type of patient we frequently see and try to tailor our clinical practice and our research to clearly what we’re seeing in practice, which is these other comorbidities.”
Dana DiRenzo, MD, from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, who moderated the session, asked how the information is changing the management of patients with Sjögren’s syndrome in clinic.
Dr. McCoy said that the study was based on self-reported data that can introduce bias, and that she and colleagues plan to validate the results before applying them to clinical care.
The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the University of Wisconsin. Dr. McCoy disclosed consulting fees from Novartis and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Dr. Hernandez-Molina and Dr. DiRenzo reported no relevant disclosures.
SOURCE: McCoy SS et al. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2020;72(suppl 10), Abstract 1504.