Arthritis research & therapy
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jan 2009
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyRapid and sustained improvements in health-related quality of life, fatigue, and other patient-reported outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis patients treated with certolizumab pegol plus methotrexate over 1 year: results from the RAPID 1 randomized controlled trial.
The objective of this study was to assess the impact of certolizumab pegol (CZP) treatment on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), fatigue and other patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). ⋯ Treatment with CZP plus MTX resulted in rapid and sustained improvements in all PROs, indicating that the benefits of CZP extend beyond clinical efficacy endpoints into areas that are more relevant and meaningful for patients on a daily basis.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jan 2009
The relationship between disease activity, sleep, psychiatric distress and pain sensitivity in rheumatoid arthritis: a cross-sectional study.
Despite recent advances in anti-inflammatory therapy, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients continue to rate pain as a priority. The etiology of RA pain is likely multifactorial, including both inflammatory and non-inflammatory components. In this study, we examine the association between disease activity, sleep, psychiatric distress and pain sensitivity in RA. ⋯ Multivariable models are essential in analyses of pain. Among RA patients, inflammation is associated with heightened pain sensitivity at joints. In contrast, poor sleep is associated with diffuse pain sensitivity, as noted in central pain conditions such as fibromyalgia. Future studies examining pain sensitivity at joint and non-joint sites may identify patients with different underlying pain mechanisms and suggest alternative approaches to treating RA pain.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jan 2009
Comparative StudyEnhanced reactivity to pain in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Maladaptive physiological responses to stress appear to play a role in chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, relatively little stress research in RA patients has involved the study of pain, the most commonly reported and most impairing stressor in RA. In the present study, we compared psychophysical and physiological responses to standardized noxious stimulation in 19 RA patients and 21 healthy controls. ⋯ These findings highlight the importance of pain as a stressor in RA patients and add to a small body of literature documenting amplified responses to pain in RA. Future studies of the pathophysiology of RA would benefit from the consideration of acute pain levels when comparing RA patients with other groups, and future trials of analgesic interventions in RA patients may benefit from evaluating the effects of such interventions on inflammatory activity.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jan 2009
Comparative StudyAssociation of common polymorphisms in known susceptibility genes with rheumatoid arthritis in a Slovak population using osteoarthritis patients as controls.
Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a common and complex autoimmune disease. As well as the major susceptibility gene HLA-DRB1, recent genome-wide and candidate-gene studies reported additional evidence for association of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers in the PTPN22, STAT4, OLIG3/TNFAIP3 and TRAF1/C5 loci with RA. This study was initiated to investigate the association between defined genetic markers and RA in a Slovak population. In contrast to recent studies, we included intensively-characterized osteoarthritis (OA) patients as controls. ⋯ In our Slovak population, HLA-DRB1 alleles as well as SNPs in STAT4 and PTPN22 genes showed a strong association with RA.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jan 2009
Development and validation of the self-administered Fibromyalgia Assessment Status: a disease-specific composite measure for evaluating treatment effect.
The Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) is a composite disease-specific measure validated for fibromyalgia (FM), but it is rarely used in clinical practice. The objective was to develop and analyse the psychometric properties of a new composite disease-specific index (Fibromyalgia Assessment Status, FAS), a simple self-administered index that combines a patient's assessment of fatigue, sleep disturbances and pain evaluated on the basis of the 16 non-articular sites listed on the Self-Assessment Pain Scale (SAPS) in a single measure (range 0 to 10). ⋯ The self-administered FAS is a reliable, valid and responsive disease-specific composite measure for assessing treatment effect in patients with FM.