Clinical rheumatology
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Clinical rheumatology · Nov 2020
ReviewMoving towards online rheumatology education in the era of COVID-19.
The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has unsettled conventional medical education, hastening a switch to digital platforms and open-access publishing. Rheumatology is a fast evolving academic discipline that stands to gain by this switch. Most rheumatology textbooks are now available in digital formats, and these are complemented with live updating educational hubs such as UpToDate and ClinicalKey. ⋯ While online teaching lacks emotional connections between mentors and mentees, switch to a more interactive format of education and regular contacts may partly solve the issue. Rheumatologists can take the lead in these challenging times and contribute more to online scholarly activities which are aimed to maintain and enrich education. Key Points • Disparities in rheumatology education are likely to be widened during the COVID-19 pandemic. • Barriers to rheumatology education include limited number of instructors and their limited experience in online teaching. • Online textbooks, didactic materials of indexed rheumatology journals, and frequently updated online educational hubs such as UpToDate serve as a foundation of online rheumatology education. • Online rheumatology education is enriched by peer review and social media activities, which are becoming major players in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The outbreak of coronavirus in the world has led to an uncertainty about treatment of patients with autoimmune disorders because of their weakened immune system coupled with immunosuppressive agents they take which predisposes them to a host of infections. Data on COVID-19 patients with underlying rheumatological diseases has been emerging mostly in the form of small case series and one global registry. From these data, it seems like our patients, although immunosuppressed, are not particularly susceptible to the coronavirus infection and if infected, do not have significantly worse outcomes than other patients. ⋯ Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common immune-mediated disorder in COVID-19 patients, and in this review, we discuss how the commonly used drugs in RA alter the patients' susceptibility to this infection. The review also summarizes the recommendations from the major bodies on how to manage this disease in these times. Key Points • Patients on immunosuppressive medications are not found to be at a greatly increased risk of acquiring COVID-19 infection. • Patients doing well on a stable dose of steroid and/or Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs (DMARDs) should be allowed to continue the same unless they get infected in which case, temporary stoppage of methotrexate and leflunomide may be considered. • Initiation of high-dose steroids, DMARDs, and biologics, if the clinical situation demands so, can be done. • Maintenance biologic therapy for stable patients should be individualized by the treating physician.
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Clinical rheumatology · Oct 2020
Cross-cultural adaption and validation of simplified Chinese version of the lower extremity function scale in patients with knee osteoarthritis.
The lower extremity function scale (LEFS) is widely used to investigate patients' functional status due to musculoskeletal dysfunction of the lower extremity. The aims of this study were to translate and cross-culturally adapt the LEFS into simplified Chinese (SC-LEFS) and evaluate the psychometric properties in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). ⋯ The SC-LEFS has been nicely adapted into simplified Chinese. It was proved to be reliable and valid for knee OA patients from China mainland who are undergoing arthroplasty. Furthermore, additional research should be conducted to assess these findings in other dysfunctions of lower extremity in a larger sample size. Key Points • The present study firstly cross-culturally adapted the lower extremity function scale (LEFS) into simplified Chinese and applied for patients with knee osteoarthritis in China mainland. • The psychometric properties including reliability, validity, and responsiveness were evaluated in SC-LEFS. • The SC-LEFS turned out to be a reliable and valid tool for clinical physicians and researchers assessing patients with knee osteoarthritis.