Arthritis research & therapy
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jan 2009
ReviewEpidemiological studies in incidence, prevalence, mortality, and comorbidity of the rheumatic diseases.
Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of disease in human populations. Over the past decade there has been considerable progress in our understanding of the fundamental descriptive epidemiology (levels of disease frequency: incidence and prevalence, comorbidity, mortality, trends over time, geographic distributions, and clinical characteristics) of the rheumatic diseases. This progress is reviewed for the following major rheumatic diseases: rheumatoid arthritis (RA), juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, osteoarthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, giant cell arteritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, gout, Sjögren's syndrome, and ankylosing spondylitis. ⋯ The past decade has also brought new insights regarding the comorbidity associated with rheumatic diseases. Strong evidence now shows that persons with RA are at a high risk for developing several comorbid disorders, that these conditions may have atypical features and thus may be difficult to diagnose, and that persons with RA experience poorer outcomes after comorbidity compared with the general population. Taken together, these findings underscore the complexity of the rheumatic diseases and highlight the key role of epidemiological research in understanding these intriguing conditions.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jan 2009
Better assessment of physical function: item improvement is neglected but essential.
Physical function is a key component of patient-reported outcome (PRO) assessment in rheumatology. Modern psychometric methods, such as Item Response Theory (IRT) and Computerized Adaptive Testing, can materially improve measurement precision at the item level. We present the qualitative and quantitative item-evaluation process for developing the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Physical Function item bank. ⋯ Item improvement must underlie attempts to improve outcome assessment. The clear, personally important and relevant, ability-framed items in the PROMIS Physical Function item bank perform well in PRO assessment. They will benefit from further study and application in a wider variety of rheumatic diseases in diverse clinical groups, including those at the extremes of physical functioning, and in different administration modes.
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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.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jan 2009
Comparative StudyValidation of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Core Set for chronic widespread pain from the perspective of fibromyalgia patients.
Functioning is recognized as an important study outcome in chronic widespread pain (CWP). The Comprehensive ICF Core Set for CWP is an application of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) with the purpose of representing the typical spectrum of functioning of patients with CWP. The objective of the study was to add evidence to the validation of the Comprehensive ICF Core Set for CWP from the patient perspective. The specific aims were to explore the aspects of functioning and health important to patients with fibromyalgia, and to examine to what extent these aspects are represented by the current version of the Comprehensive ICF Core Set for CWP. ⋯ Most ICF categories of the existing version of the Comprehensive ICF Core Set for CWP could be confirmed from the patient perspective. However, several categories not included in the Core Set emerged and should be considered for inclusion.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jan 2009
The Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR): validation and psychometric properties.
The Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) is a commonly used instrument in the evaluation of fibromyalgia (FM) patients. Over the last 18 years, since the publication of the original FIQ, several deficiencies have become apparent and the cumbersome scoring algorithm has been a barrier to widespread clinical use. The aim of this paper is to describe and validate a revised version of the FIQ: the FIQR. ⋯ The FIQR is an updated version of the FIQ that has good psychometric properties, can be completed in less than 2 minutes and is easy to score. It has scoring characteristics comparable to the original FIQ, making it possible to compare past FIQ results with future FIQR results.