Scandinavian journal of rheumatology
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Scand. J. Rheumatol. · Jan 1995
Are tender point scores assessed by manual palpation in fibromyalgia reliable? An investigation into the variance of tender point scores.
To determine the reliability of tender point assessment by manual palpation in patients with fibromyalgia, and to investigate the sources of variance, tender point scores by manual palpation were obtained in 30 fibromyalgia patients by 2 investigators; the assessments were repeated after 1 week. Test-retest stability and inter-observer agreement of tender point scores was moderate to high. ⋯ It seems to be not less than reliability of assessment by pressure algometer. Tender point scores in fibromyalgia reflect individual differences in mean pain thresholds as well as individual tender point profiles.
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Mobility measurements of spine, chest, hips, and shoulder in 73 adult males with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) were correlated with the duration of disease. Several mobility tests showed a significant correlation with the duration of AS, but after adjustment for age, only rotation of the thoracolumbar spine maintained a highly significant correlation. It is concluded that age has a strong effect on the mobility tests. Rotation of the thoracolumbar spine seems to be a valid measure for AS-specific changes.
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A short-form of the McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) has been translated into Swedish. One hundred women with either fibromyalgia (FS) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA) filled out the SF-MPQ three times--the RA patients monthly while receiving their routine care, and the FS patients over 6 months while participating in an experimental treatment. Results indicated that the MPQ 15-item descriptor section was internally consistent (Cronbach's alphas .73 to .89), but lacked content validity in the RA sample. ⋯ Convergent construct validity was demonstrated by significant correlations between the SF-MPQ and other pain measurements. A principal components analysis showed that the 15-item descriptor section has three distinct factors: acute sensory, chronic sensory, and affective. We conclude that the SF-MPQ is reliable and valid for use with FS patients.
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Scand. J. Rheumatol. · Jan 1994
Longterm effects of fibromyalgia on everyday life. A study of 56 patients.
Fifty-six patients with fibromyalgia, previously studied in 1984, were followed up after five years, using a mail questionnaire and a global health assessment instrument, the Sickness Impact Profile. The aim was to investigate the patients' perception of their symptoms and to describe the consequences for everyday life. Half of the patients reported that pain, fatigue and sleep problems had increased, less than 20% reported improvements, and 30-40%, no change. ⋯ The symptoms had severe consequences for the patients' ability to manage everyday life activities. The study confirms that fibromyalgia, once established, is a non-remitting syndrome. Also, the social consequences were constant over time.
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Scand. J. Rheumatol. · Jan 1992
Comparative StudyEffect of physiotherapy on spinal mobility in ankylosing spondylitis.
The efficacy of intensive inpatient physiotherapy was retrospectively analysed in 505 adult patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Eight different measures of thoracic and spinal mobility were collected from the patients' medical records. Recovery in terms of the following measures was 7 to 37% when results after rehabilitation were compared to those taken before: thoracolumbar flexibility (TLF) 15%, the Schober test 12.4%, occiput to wall distance (OWD) 30.8%, cervical rotation 22.6%, chin to chest distance (CCD) 21.7%, finger to floor distance (FFD) 36.6%, chest expansion (CE) 31.3%, vital capacity (VC) 7.4%. ⋯ OWD, CE and FFD showed greatest improvement. The average increase in CE was about 1 cm in both sexes and the average increase in VC200 ml in men and 270 ml in women, which indicates improvement in ventilatory capacity. Mobility in the majority of patients improved, though in 2 to 8% range of motion (ROM) deteriorated during the course.