Arthritis care & research
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Arthritis care & research · Jul 2012
Quality of life in adults with juvenile-onset dermatomyositis: a case-control study.
To compare quality of life in adults diagnosed with juvenile dermatomyositis (DM) with that of matched controls, and to analyze the association with other disease parameters in patients. ⋯ Adult patients with juvenile DM had, compared to controls, reduced HRQOL in general health measured by the SF-36, but not in the other subscales of the SF-36 or in global quality of life measured by the QOLS-N. An association was found between disease parameters and reduced HRQOL in the physical domains.
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Arthritis care & research · Jul 2012
Anxiety and depression among US adults with arthritis: prevalence and correlates.
There has been limited characterization of the burden of anxiety and depression, especially the former, among US adults with arthritis in the general population. The study objective was to estimate the prevalence and correlates of anxiety and depression among US adults with doctor-diagnosed arthritis. ⋯ Despite the clinical focus on depression among people with arthritis, anxiety was almost twice as common as depression. Given their high prevalence, their profound impact on quality of life, and the range of effective treatments available, we encourage health care providers to screen all people with arthritis for both anxiety and depression.
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Low back pain (LBP) affects most people at some stage in life. However, the burden on the health care system is unclear. We studied: 1) the 1-year consultation prevalence, 2) the rate of first-time consultation for LBP and the relationship of the frequency to other musculoskeletal conditions, and 3) the health care utilization of patients with LBP compared to the general population. ⋯ LBP, diagnosed in every sixth patient who consulted due to a musculoskeletal problem, is a public health concern that needs structured management. Patients with LBP consume close to twice as much health care as the general population and this warrants more awareness.
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Fear of movement has important clinical implications for individuals with osteoarthritis (OA). This study aimed to establish a brief fear of movement scale for use in OA. Items from the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK) were examined. ⋯ The Brief Fear of Movement Scale identified in this study provides a promising and valid approach for assessing fear of movement in individuals with OA. This brief scale demonstrated several important strengths, including a small number of items, sound psychometric properties, and consistent performance across diverse groups of individuals with OA.
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Arthritis care & research · Jun 2012
Comparative StudyComparative responsiveness of the EuroQol-5D and Short Form 6D to improvement in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with tumor necrosis factor blockers: results of the Dutch Rheumatoid Arthritis Monitoring registry.
For cost-utility analyses of health technologies, utilities are commonly measured with the EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) or the Short Form 6D (SF-6D). Although most studies in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) found the SF-6D to be more responsive than the EQ-5D, evidence is not convincing. The aim of this study was to compare the responsiveness of the EQ-5D and SF-6D to improvement in RA patients treated with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blockers. ⋯ The EQ-5D and SF-6D were only moderately responsive to improvement in RA patients treated with TNF blockers. Overall, the SF-6D was more responsive than the EQ-5D.