Arthritis and rheumatism
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Dec 2006
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyStability of the patient acceptable symptomatic state over time in outcome criteria in ankylosing spondylitis.
The Patient Acceptable Symptomatic State (PASS) is the highest level of symptoms beyond which patients consider themselves well. It provides clinically meaningful information to interpret results from scales or questionnaires. Our goal was to determine the PASS in main outcome criteria when assessing patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and to evaluate whether the PASS is stable over time. ⋯ This study provides cutoff values for the PASS for the main outcome measures in AS and shows that PASS values are stable over time.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Dec 2006
Randomized Controlled TrialEffectiveness of behavioral graded activity in patients with osteoarthritis of the hip and/or knee: A randomized clinical trial.
To determine the effectiveness of a behavioral graded activity program (BGA) compared with usual care (UC; exercise therapy and advice) according to the Dutch guidelines for physiotherapy in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip and/or knee. The BGA intervention is intended to increase activity in the long term and consists of an exercise program with booster sessions, using operant treatment principles. ⋯ Because both interventions resulted in beneficial long-term effects, the superiority of BGA over UC has not been demonstrated. Therefore, BGA seems to be an acceptable method to treat patients with hip and/or knee OA, with equivalent results compared with UC.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Dec 2006
Randomized Controlled TrialA randomized, sham-controlled, proof of principle study of transcranial direct current stimulation for the treatment of pain in fibromyalgia.
Recent evidence suggests that fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by dysfunctional brain activity. Because transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can modulate brain activity noninvasively and can decrease pain in patients with refractory central pain, we hypothesized that tDCS treatment would result in pain relief in patients with fibromyalgia. ⋯ Our findings provide initial evidence of a beneficial effect of tDCS in fibromyalgia, thus encouraging further trials.