To determine the clinical and audiological behaviour per age group in Sjögren's Syndrome (SS), considering that it is the second most frequent autoimmune rheumatic disease.
The study included 29 patients with SS with clinical history and audiological studies. The design was prospective, descriptive and transversal.
Average patient age was 41 years. All the patients with hearing loss in conventional tone audiometry were of the sensory type. At high frequencies, 66% of the patients did not respond at 20 KHz, and 48% at the frequency of 16 KHz. In logoaudiometry and impedancemetry, the results were the ones expected for the auditory thresholds.
Auditory damage related to SS is located in the inner ear. Patients must be informed by their physician of the risk of having auditory damage as a complication of the disease. Audiological evaluation must be performed periodically to identify possible audiological damage.