To investigate the prevalence and clinical aspects of Sjögren syndrome in patients who were diagnosed with dry eye syndrome in Korea.

The medical records of patients who were diagnosed with dry eye syndrome in a dry eye clinic during a 2-year period (March 2008 to March 2010) and were followed up for more than 3 months were reviewed retrospectively.

A total of 206 patients were included in the present study. Fifty-eight patients (28%) had Sjögren syndrome and 39 patients (19%) showed primary Sjögren syndrome. Sjögren syndrome patients showed poorer results than non-Sjögren syndrome patients in ocular surface disease index score (OSDI), tear break up time, Schirmer test score, and ocular surface staining score using the Oxford scheme ( p < 0.05). Among the patients with primary Sjögren syndrome, 27 patients were SSA (anti-Ro antibodies) or SSB (anti-La antibodies) positive and 12 patients were sero-negative. There were no statistically significant differences in objective or subjective parameters between the sero-positive and sero-negative groups.

Sjögren syndrome was observed in 28% of all dry eye patients, in two-thirds of severe dry eye patients. Sjögren syndrome patients showed more severe clinical aspects than dry eye patients with non-Sjögren syndrome. Diagnosing Sjögren syndrome through systemic evaluation is necessary in the patients with severe dry eye.