International journal of rheumatic diseases
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Superiority of laterally elevated wedged insoles to neutrally wedged insoles in medial knee osteoarthritis symptom relief.
Knee osteoarthritis (OA), is the most common degenerative joint disease. Several non-pharmacological interventions have been used for this purpose such as insoles. There are contradictory data about the superiority and effectiveness of laterally wedged compared with neutrally wedged insoles. This study was designed to compare the effectiveness of laterally and neutrally wedged insoles in management of knee OA. ⋯ This study suggests that laterally elevated wedged insoles are more effective than neutrally wedged insoles, in pain relief of knee OA.
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Practice Guideline
Referral strategy for early recognition of axial spondyloarthritis: consensus recommendations from the Hong Kong Society of Rheumatology.
Low back pain is one of commonest problems prompting a visit to the family physician. Up to 5% of patients with chronic low back pain in the primary care setting are diagnosed as having spondyloarthritis, which includes the prototype disease ankylosing spondylitis. Making a diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis is often delayed for years, leading to significant pain, impairment of quality of life, disability and productivity loss. ⋯ With proper recognition of inflammatory back pain, and the use of magnetic resonance imaging, spondyloarthritis can now be diagnosed much earlier before features are evident on plain radiographs. Referral to the rheumatologist based on onset of back pain (> 3 months) before the age of 45 years, and an inflammatory nature of the pain, or the presence of human leukocyte antigen-B27, or sacroiliitis by imaging, have been confirmed in multi-center international studies to be a pragmatic approach to enable early diagnosis of spondyloarthritis. This referral strategy has recently been adopted by the Hong Kong Society of Rheumatology for primary care physicians and non-rheumatology specialists.
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Recently, a large body of studies has focused on the leptin levels in psychiatric disorders. This study aimed to measure serum leptin levels in fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) due to a significantly higher prevalence of psychiatric disorder and to determine the relationship between leptin and FMS. ⋯ We found a significant decrease in serum leptin in FMS patients compared to controls and this decrease correlated with disease severity.
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To assess the prevalence and factors related to rheumatic musculoskeletal disorders (RMSD) in a rural population of south India. ⋯ There is an urgent need to introduce lifestyle modifications in high-risk groups and start rehabilitation for those affected. Community rheumatology in primary health care settings in rural areas needs to be strengthened by introducing national programs addressing RMSD at the grassroots level.
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Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain and fatigue. It is a less frequently diagnosed disease in China, thus Chinese rheumatologists may have lower awareness of FM compared with colleagues in Western countries. The aim of this study is to investigate the perceptions of FM in Chinese rheumatologists and analyze their therapeutic approach in clinical practice. ⋯ The awareness and perception of FM are still low among Chinese rheumatologists. CME on FM is needed for improving the quality of health care in China.