International journal of rheumatic diseases
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Practice Guideline Multicenter Study
Current considerations for the management of musculoskeletal pain in Asian countries: a special focus on cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors and non-steroid anti-inflammation drugs.
Chronic pain is a complex problem that eludes precise definition and can be clinically difficult to diagnose and challenging to treat. In the Asia-Pacific region, prevalence estimates that chronic pain ranges from 12% to 45% of the population, with musculoskeletal, rheumatic or osteoarthritis pain making up the majority of the disease burden. Implementation of current management guidelines into routine clinical practice has been challenging and as a result, patients with musculoskeletal pain are often poorly managed. ⋯ Treatment must be individualized for each patient based on efficacy, side-effect profile and drug accessibility. Further studies are required to examine head-to-head comparisons among analgesics, combinations of analgesics and long-term efficacy outcomes. Our increasing understanding of the problem combined with the promise of new therapy options offers hope for improved management of musculoskeletal pain in Asian countries.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Comparison of expectations of physicians and patients with rheumatoid arthritis for rheumatology clinic visits: a pilot, multicenter, international study.
To describe and compare expectations of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and their physicians with regard to what is most important to achieve during a rheumatology clinic visit. ⋯ We found some agreement and some discordance of clinical expectations between RA patients and physicians. There appear to be some different expectations in different countries. Findings from this pilot survey may help physicians consider patients' expectations in planning rheumatology clinic visits and may lead to further hypothesis-driven studies.
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To determine if there is a difference between autonomic cardiac control as measured by heart rate variability (HRV) in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to a healthy control group. ⋯ An inability of the autonomic nervous system to efficiently compensate for internal and external environmental changes may predispose RA patients to arrhythmias, thereby increasing cardiovascular mortality. All three methods used showed the same outcome, implying decreased HRV and thus an increased risk for arrhythmias in RA patients. Evaluating the autonomic nervous system might be critical in planning management of RA patients.
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Comparative Study
Validation of the scleroderma health assessment questionnaire and quality of life in English and Chinese-speaking patients with systemic sclerosis.
To perform cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Scleroderma Health Assessment Questionnaire (S-HAQ) and Systemic Sclerosis Quality of Life scale (SSc-QoL) in English and Chinese-speaking patients with SSc. ⋯ In this pilot study, we provided preliminary evidence to demonstrate the good test-retest reliability and reasonable construct validity of S-HAQ and SSc-QoL for use in English and Chinese-speaking SSc patients. This forms the basis for future studies to assess more extensively their psychometric properties.