Managing Dry Eye Disease in Primary Sjögren's Syndrome with the Chronic Disease Care Model

Purposes: To study the changes in lifestyle, disease control, and psychological mood of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome when the chronic disease nursing model is implemented for dry eye management. Methods: A self-controlled pre-post trial. Tertiary hospitals in Beijing served as the chronic disease management units for this study. All study subjects were given chronic care dry eye management and completed 24 weeks of follow-up. The scores of SPEED questionnaire, OSDI questionnaire, VAS scale, Knowledge-Attitude-Practice questionnaire of dry eye patients using eye drops, and DASS scale were used to evaluate the changes of subjects' medication compliance, ocular symptoms, knowledge, belief and behavior of eye drops and psychology during the 24-week follow-up, and analyze the important influence of chronic disease nursing model on eye symptoms of patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome. Results: A total of 34 study subjects were collected in this trial, with a high retention rate. 91.19% (n = 31) of study subjects completed the 24-week follow-up. The 24-week intervention and follow-up resulted in high and stable adherence to home-based medication and self-care among participants. Significant improvements were also observed in their knowledge, and practices related to eye drop use, along with the resolution of adverse psychological emotions. Conclusion: The findings indicate that dry eye management based on a chronic care model empowers patients to adopt healthy lifestyles and alleviates negative emotions, thereby contributing to improved health outcomes. Trail registration: Its registration center is Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, the trial registration number is ChiCTR2500099615, and the registration date is 2025-03-26 00:00:00.