Arthritis and rheumatism
-
Arthritis and rheumatism · Apr 2005
Redesigning the care of fragility fracture patients to improve osteoporosis management: a health care improvement project.
To develop new processes that assure more reliable, population-based care of fragility fracture patients. ⋯ Reliable osteoporosis care is achievable by redesigning clinical processes. Performance data motivate physicians to reconsider traditional approaches. Improving the care of osteoporosis and other chronic diseases requires coordinated care across specialty boundaries and health system support.
-
Arthritis and rheumatism · Apr 2005
Relationship of pain-coping strategies and pain-specific beliefs to pain experience in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
To examine whether pain-specific beliefs and coping strategies of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) independently predict their reported pain, while controlling for relevant demographic variables, disease activity, and parent-rated disability. To compare use of pain-coping strategies and pain-related beliefs of a selected subgroup of patients with high pain and low disease activity (high pain group) with the remaining patients. ⋯ These results support a model of pain experience in patients with JIA where psychological factors are strongly influential. It may be efficient to focus behavioral interventions on a subgroup of children where the pain experience seems to be in discordance with the disease activity.
-
Arthritis and rheumatism · Apr 2005
Risk factors for visual loss in an Italian population-based cohort of patients with giant cell arteritis.
To evaluate the frequency of visual manifestations at presentation in an Italian population-based cohort of patients with biopsy-proven giant cell arteritis (GCA), and to investigate predictors for the development of permanent visual loss. ⋯ The proportion of Italian patients with GCA that developed visual loss was similar to that reported from other countries. The patients with low inflammatory response had a higher risk of visual loss.
-
Arthritis and rheumatism · Apr 2005
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical TrialSustained benefits of infliximab therapy for dermatologic and articular manifestations of psoriatic arthritis: results from the infliximab multinational psoriatic arthritis controlled trial (IMPACT).
To investigate the efficacy and tolerability of infliximab therapy for the articular and dermatologic manifestations of active psoriatic arthritis (PsA). ⋯ Therapy with infliximab at a dose of 5 mg/kg significantly improved the signs and symptoms of arthritis, psoriasis, dactylitis, and enthesitis in patients with active PsA that had been resistant to DMARD therapy. With continued infliximab treatment, benefits were sustained through 50 weeks. The benefit-to-risk ratio appeared favorable in this study population.